The Big Scoop
by Ted Wakeman
Summary: Blu and Jewel thought they were the last of their kind...Until a certain blue bird formerly owned by a reporter arrives in Rio and makes a shocking revelation...Rated T  for later violence and flirting.  BluXJewel mush later on.
1. Chapter 1

After seeing 'Rio', I absolutely LOVED it. The characters, the charm, EVERYTHING was beautiful about it. Of course, when I see a great fic, I ALWAYS write a fic...

This fic basically takes place immeadetly after Rio. Only difference is, this takes place between the time period between the 'The End', and when Blu and Jewel had their kids. With this in mind, Blu and Jewel currently don't have kids by this point.

So, without further ado, my voyage into the fandom of **RIO!**

...

**THE BIG SCOOP**

Chapter 1

A Surprise Visit

It had been only mere days since Blu had successfully flown and proclaimed his love to Jewel. Days since the greatest journey of his life, that lead him from the small bookstore in "Tiny-Sota" to Rio, a place he'd likely live the rest of his life in, with his friends he had only known for a short time, and still held near to him, and of course Jewel, his one and only love of his life...

This certain day began like any other, only it was strangely quiet in the forest where all the birds called their home. With no enemies to plague them, the birds were living in perfect harmony. Of course, sleep was a top priority for them after the amazing last few days.

As well as this unusually quiet afternoon, Blu was currently exploring the jungle, still trying to learn the ways of his new home. Along with him were his friends Rafael, Pedro and Nico. This was an apparent "tour" that was provided by his Toucan buddy. Free of charge, apparently.

"So, any other questions Blu amigo?" Rafael asked with an open smile. That was a quality Blu always noticed. Rafael was always sportin a smile that showed off a great soul with a smooth-thinking way of life.

"Well yeah. I mean, what time does the sun go down? When is it the best time to be back here? When should I be aware that the 'other birds' will be into their singing, because I have a strange feeling the kids won't be too happy about the noise..." Blu rambled, suddenly lowering his voice to a squeak at the tail end of his questionare. Pedro and Nico tried hard to hold back their laughter at the mention of kids. Blu already assumed Jewel was going to take it THAT far...And why not, Blu wondered. Jewel was his perfect bird, the one that he loved, and he had a good feeling no one would take that away.

"Blu...You gotta learn that every bird here has to listen to the music the birds have made. It's not the peace that is loved by all us birds in Rio, it's the love of music and the melodies we've lived with! That my friend, is what will matter most for your ninos." Rafael said with a smile of assurance. Blu thought for a moment and then sighed with a smile.

"I guess you're right." Blu agreed with a laugh.

"And I'm sure Jewel will agree with me too. In case you didn't notice, you both love music! Why deprive your children of it?" Rafael asked, further unintentionally making Blu feel like the bad guy.

"Yeah, that makes me feel good..." Blu sighed as he lowered his head shamefully.

"Come on amigo, I know you wouldn't do anything like that! Besides, there's plenty of time left before you and and Jewel...Get intimate." Rafael muttered, trying not to make the situation awkward. Once again, Pedro and Nico had to hold back laughs. Nico began to speak, but then needed to hesitate so he could keep a straight face.

"Come on Blu. Let's head down to The Branch and get down!" Pedro exclaimed, ready to fly down to the club where Blu made his first huge impression on Jewel.

"Sorry Pedro, I can't. Jewels making me stay here. Making a nest isn't all what it's cracked up to be." Blu said with a weak laugh. Pedro glanced over at Nico dejectingly, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright, suit yourself amigo. Just don't come running back to us when you're getting lonely! Rio isn't a nice place for birds at night!" Rafael called as he flew off with Pedro and Nico. Blu scoffed at this statement, and then headed back to his nest deeper back in the woods.

"What did Rafael mean by that? I can handle Rio. I've stayed in one piece since I first got here!" Blu said to himself, to which a few birds suddenly took notice of, mainly younger parrots.

"Mommy, what's the crazy blue bird talking about?" A baby parrot with a high voice asked his mother.

"Let's go, kids." The mother bird said quickly, turning her younglings around and pushing them away from the area. Blu suddenly felt rejected from the sudden confused looks he was receiving. Was he really this much of an outcast?

At least Jewel understood, Blu thought. The love of his life had never ceased to treat him like he belonged, and it was because she knew he belonged...But why couldn't Blu believe that?

Blu finally reached the tree him and his love Jewel were constructing their nest in. It was a practical nest, filled with twigs and such. However, Blu suddenly noticed a blue figure through a hole leading to the nest, fast at work as well. At first, Blu thought it was Jewel, but something made him think otherwise...

"Why is there someone in our nest?" Jewel asked, suddenly appearing next to Blu, who almost jumped out of skin.

"There's someone in our nest?" Blu asked frantically, not realizing it until now. Jewel gave Blu a somewhat-angry look, to which Blu suddenly changed his expression to act like he knew it.

"I mean...There's someone in our nest!" Blu exclaimed with resolute in his voice.

"Hey buddy, what are you doing in our nest?" Blu called up to the strange bird in his nest. A small, blue head suddenly poked out of tree's hole.

"Hello? Who said that?" A bird asked in a voice that sounded like it belonged to a fast-talking headliner reporter from the 1950s.

"I said, what are you doing in our nest?" Blu yelled again. The bird turned his head toward Blu, and then suddenly smiled widely. The bird quickly flapped his wings and fluttered down to meet with Blu and Jewel.

Blu immeadetly noticed something strange...He looked, from beak to toe, EXACTLY like him. Same colors, same beak, everything. The only difference was an obvious show of age. The bird had gray streaks in his feathers, and some spots of his feathers were even missing. It was clear he was in a fight or two. Also, he was wearing a black fedora that looked like it belonged in the 50's, and he held a pen in his mouth and a large bag on his back. The bird quickly looked at Blu and Jewel with a happy grin.

"Extra Extra! Reporter bird finds two of his kind!" The bird said rapidly with his newspaper headliner voice. Blu and Jewel were both surprised when he mentioned their kind. Weren't they the only blue McCaws left? That's what Tulio made clear of. That was only reason originally that Blu came in the first place.

"Wait, who are you?" Jewel asked, just as confused as Blu was. The strange McCaw laughed, and then took out a notepad and stuck the pen he had into one of his claws.

"I'm sorry my fellow birds! My name is Arthur. Arthur Jenkins would be my full name! Former pet of the famous writer for the Lauderdale Gazette, Andrew Jenkins! Glad to meet ya!" Arthur said with his headliner voice not ceasing, rapidly shaking Blu and Jewel's hands firmly.

"So...What kind of bird are you exactly?" Blu asked, trying to figure this all out. Arthur squinted at Blu for a few seconds, and then began investigating him from top to bottom.

"Well, judging by wing span, beak size, eye size and overall looks, I'd say I'm the same kind of bird as you, my fine, feathered fellow!" Arthur said, sounding like he knew it all along.

"Wait, you're a blue McCaw too?" Jewel asked, extremely confused by all of this.

"Yes, my dear! A full-blooded, pure-bred blue McCaw!" Arthur assured, even pointing to his surprisingly still-blue tail feathers. Blu and Jewel both exchange 100% shocked expressions. Blu began to stutter non-sensically until he could finally sputter out his response.

"...F...first of all, don't call my Jewel 'my dear'...Second, WHAT?" Blu screamed, absolutely losing his mind at this point. Arthur quickly whipped out his notepad once more.

"Incredible story! Page 2 quality! Blue McCaws discover they're not the last of their kind! This is the big scoop I've been looking for!"

...

I had a ton of fun writing this. PLEASE Read, Enjoy and REVIEW!

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	2. McCaw Journalism

(Note: To get an idea of Arthur's fast-talking "headliner" voice, think of a fast-talking Richard Gere. That would be the EXACT voice of Arthur.)

...

Chapter 2

McCaw Journalism

"Wait, how could you POSSIBLY be a blue McCaw? I thought me and Jewel were the only ones left?" Blu asked, still taken aback by this sudden revelation.

"Oh please my chap, that's what the men in white make you think!" Arthur laughed, still writing notes rapidly into his notepad. Blu had no idea what this expression meant, and clearly showed it with the expression on his face.

"Who are...The Men in White?" Blu asked. Arthur hesitated for a moment, then put his notepad away. Arthur then swiftly moved next to Blu in one flap of his wings.

"The doctors! The scientists! They always spread the lies just to cover the truth. If Mr. Jenkins taught me anything, that'd be that you can't trust those doctors." Arthur explained.

Unbelievable, thought Blu. The fact that his own kind WASN'T hanging by a thread with him and Jewel. There was actually someone related to them. So many opportunities, so many questions...

"Sorry for not asking about you two! The press would like to know who these fine couple of blue lovebirds are!" Arthur said rapidly, taking out a fake microphone and pushing the two blue McCaws together to make them look like they loved each other. Blu and Jewel both shared creeped-out looks before a blinding flash shook their eyeballs. It turned out Arthur also had a camera.

"This guy's really dedicated to his work..." Blu muttered to Jewel.

"You're not kidding..." Jewel groaned in an annoyed tone.

"So, what do you two handsome McCaws call yourselves?" Arthur asked once again, his strange, silver eyes suddenly expanding widely in excitement.

"Well...I'm Blu. I came here from Minnesota because...Well...this guy Tulio _thought _I was the last male of my kind, and took me and my owner here so I could mate with Jewel here..." Blu started, to which Arthur took another picture with the blinding, flashing camera.

"A exciting journey from Minnesota to Rio! You know, I've been to Minnesota, and quite frankly you guys have quite the weather pattern. Snow, snow and snow!" Arthur laughed, seeming to be having a wonderful time.

"And, this is Jewel, my mate." Blu continued, motioning to Jewel, who gave a small, unenthusiastic wave. Arthur took another picture, once again blinding the two McCaws.

"Stop doing that!" Jewel yelled as she whacked the camera away.

"So, continue with your story my blue friend! It's beginning to become interesting!" Arthur said, motioning Blu to continue his spectacular tale.

"Well...Then she ended up finding out I couldn't fly...So then we got mixed up into this whole thing. We had to escape from this crazy cockatoo named Nigel, we met all these different kinds of birds, and in general Jewel showed me that flying wasn't about the brains, but following the rythme of my heart..." Blu said as he gave a loving look to Jewel, who did the same. Arthur began sniffeling a bit, obviously choked up by the story.

"Beautiful story, kid...Definetly on Page 1..." Arthur sniffled, keeping the tears from coming out. Arthur suddenly snapped back to normal, and continued writing notes on his notepad.

"Say Blu, you mentioned something about a cockatoo named Nigel. That wouldn't happen to be the same Nigel that starred in the TV show 'Fly Hard', would it?" Arthur asked, actually sounding less hyperactive than normal.

"Yep, same one." Jewel responded, still trying to get rid of the memories of the constant times the insane cockatoo had called her 'Pretty Bird'.

"That's interesting. I have a friend from LA who knew him quite well...In fact, she replaced him on that show." Arthur said, suddenly sounding less hyperactive and more serious. Blu was suddenly very interested. He actually was a tad interested in this 'Petricious' that the cockatoo had sung about only a few days earlier.

"Wow...You think we could meet her?" Blu asked, sounding interested. Jewel lightly nudged Blu and shook her head silently, trying to make it clear she didn't want to get involved with this strange McCaw that just...Showed up in their nest.

"Sure! Luckily, Petricious is quite a friendly bird for a 'famous actor'." Arthur whispered with a snicker. Blu laughed weakly, not understanding the humor behind the joke.

"You can meet my other friends too! We stopped at that little bird club down in the city earlier! I'll meet you there!" Arthur exclaimed as he burst off towards the city of Rio de Janiero. Blu smiled eagerly, and was ready to take off as well, when Jewel grabbed him at the last second.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jewel asked in an almost motherly sort of tone.

"C'mon Jewel! He's going to be living around here anyway. The least we could do is introduce him and make sure he is comfortable! Remember how much of a wreck I was when I was a tourist?" Blu explained, sounding almost like a politician. Jewel thought for a moment, and accepted defeat of the matter.

"Fine...But if he pulls anything like stealing our nest again, then we're never treating him like a friend again." Jewel said, still stuck on the mistake that occured a few moments ago.

"I knew you'd understand. Now let's go give our friend a welcome party he'll never forget!" Blu exclaimed, bursting off through the tree tops with Jewel following quickly as the sun began to set...

...

As soon as Blu and Jewel arrived at the small market where The Branch was located, the sun was nearly hitting the horizon, ready to send the cozy city of Rio de Janiero into the night-wild city it had the reputation to be. It was fairly easy for Blu to find The Branch, as the loud and proud sound of Samba could easily be heard from a mile away...With Blu's hearing, at least.

Blu craned his neck inside the small tarp covering the club, and could easily see the club was still the same as it was before. All birds having the time of their lives, and still numerous Health Code violations. Blu walked in to suddenly be greeted by Pedro and Nico, who happened to be flying by.

"Hey Blu! You know about this guy?" Pedro suddenly greeted and asked as he pointed over to Arthur, who was dancing in an extremely bad fashion to the beat of _Balanco Carioca, _an extremely popular Brazilian tune that was even favored by Pedro and Nico. Even Blu cringed at the outdated fashion that his reporter friend was dancing in.

"Uh...Yeah! He's Arthur. You already meet him?" Blu asked, trying to speak over the loud music being played by a band of birds on the stage made from different objects further ahead.

"Met him? We sang with 'em! He's one cool dude!" Nico responded. Blu smiled in relief. At least he made a good first impression and didn't get on everyone's bad sides at first.

"His friends ain't bad either! Lemme me get that crazy guy..." Pedro said as he quickly flew over and grabbed Arthur, who was still dancing wildly as he was being pulled. Blu could clearly hear Pedro yelling at Arthur to stop moving so he could come over. Finally, Pedro was able to pull Arthur over.

"Hello Blu my boy! Say, your friends know how to throw an excellent party! You should join in on the fun!" Arthur exclaimed, sounding much more ecstatic than the conversation back in the woods. The band suddenly stopped, and Pedro's voice began to speak.

"I'd like you all to meet our new friend Arthur, the newest bird to Rio! Come up here you crazy guy!" Pedro exclaimed, motioning Arthur to come up. Arthur smiled eagerly and flew quickly up to the front.

"Nice to meet all you crazy birds of Rio! Definetly different from where I come from!" Arthur laughed.

"Speaking of that, where ya'll from?" Pedro asked in response to the reporter bird mentioning where he came from.

"Boy, and the boys at home say I ask alot of questions..." Arthur laughed, to which everyone laughed in response.

"Well, I come from a place called Fort Lauderdale, far north from this wonderful little place called Rio. After meeting so many friends, it's incredible just to be able to meet you good birds as well! I can only say thank you so much, because now Pedro and Nico here have got me convinced that I wanna PARTY!"

All the birds cheered in response, and the music once again started once more.

"Thank you my good men! I'm having a wonderful time!" Arthur stated Pedro and Nico, trying to yell over the music playing.

"No problem! Come any time you wanna get down!" Pedro exclaimed back. Arthur smiled and then flew back to the rear of the huge crowd of birds where Blu and Jewel were standing.

"Well, I feel great! I wanna thank you, my friends. Being a bird in this wonderful world of music is nothing short of Heaven! Luck be a McCaw tonight!" Arthur cheered as he began to dance again.

"See, I told you he wasn't a bad guy." Blu bragged to Jewel, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Fine, you were right. Now let's get back to the nest and clean up everything that Mr. Motor-Mouth did..."

...

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**Having tons of fun writing this! Hope you enjoy it as well!**


	3. A Reason for Life

Okay people, to all who have favorite'd, alerted or reviewed this story, **THANK YOU!**

I'm having an extremely fun time writing this story, and it really helps that you guys take your time out of your life to read my work. I've never been "THE writer" around , and honestly you guys make writing fics worth wile! Guy supplying reviews and everything else, and **THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!**

...But enough about me, BACK TO THE STORY

...

Chapter 3

A Reason for Life

Arthur was slowly making his way back to the huge dance floor that was stuffed with birds like a turkey on Thanksgiving, he noticed Blu and Jewel were making their way outside. Realizing he hadn't introduced his 'amigos' as Rafael called it, Arthur quickly made his way towards the two other blue McCaws.

"Wait guys! Where are we going? Off for a romantic night on the town?" Arthur asked with a grin and a perk of an eyebrow. Blu glanced over at Jewel, who was sporting an annoyed look. Blu then laughed weakly, trying not to make Jewel any more mad than she was.

"Actually, we're off to fix our nest." Blu responded as he was about to step away, when Arthur stopped him with his strong grip.

"Wait, that was your nest? Oh, I'm sorry Jewel. I thought it was a vacant one. There aren't any vacant signs around here, eh?" Arthur said with a hearty laugh, slapping Blu on the back, who slowly laughed as well, feeling a little uncomfortable now that Arthur was getting warmer towards the two mates.

"So, you said you wanted to meet my friends, eh?" Arthur said, beginning to pull Jewel and Blu back into the club. Blu started to stutter, trying to intervene, but Arthur's grip assured that they weren't going until they met his friends.

"Wally! Petricious! Bobby! Come meet my new amigos!" Arthur yelled out, to which three small heads turned toward the newest McCaw and proceeded to fly over towards the last three blue McCaws...Which Jewel was beginning to wish it was still just two.

"These are my friends, Blu! Blu and Jewel, meet Wally, Bobby and Petricious! Friends, meet Blu and Jewel!" Arthur said with a giddy expression. He was obviously having the time of his life.

"This here is Wally. He's the whitest birdie you'll ever meet!...Well, except for his beak. I met him in New Jersey!" Arthur explained, bringing Wally front stage to Blu and Jewel. The seagull was an unbelievable, pearl white color. His feathers were neatly folded, none gone or damaged, and his eyes were a rich color of brown. However, as Arthur stated, Wally had a glowing red beak that looked as if he stayed in the sun for days on end. Blu especially took notice to this.

"Uh...Wally, you got a little beak-burn..." Blu stuttered and began to reach toward Wally's peak to point it out, when the glowing white seagull grabbed Blu's wing and held it tightly, obviously afraid of injury.

"DON'T...Touch the beak...It burns..." Wally said quietly and to-the-point, barely going above a muttering tone. Blu quickly took his wing back and immediately felt the throbbing feeling of it.

"Yeah, he's easily offended. As long as you don't get near his beak, you'll be fine." Arthur assured, wrapping his wing around Wally lovingly, who exchanged this with a small, strangely creepy smile.

"Wally creeps me out a bit..." Blu muttered to Jewel.

"Next, this is my buddy from Brooklyn, Bobby!" Arthur continued, pulling out the pigeon who stood at a height much lower than Arthur. The pigeon sported an interesting mix of grey, and then red and blue feathers on his wings. His beak was slightly cracked, and his left eye seemed to be twitching. However, the most distinguishing feature of Bobby was a large feather that stood on the top of his head, that stood straight up like an antenna.

"Yo, wuzzup guys! I heard that you're a pretty cool bird, Blu!" Bobby greeted with a very stereotypical Brooklyn accent. Bobby quickly grabbed Blu's wing and shook it tightly, not trying to hurt him but he ended up doing it anyway.

"I met Bobby back when Mr. Jenkins worked for the New York Times! Bobby once pooped on Andrew's head, and we immediatley became friends from that point on!" Arthur said as he laughed along with Bobby. Jewel still couldn't figure out why she was hanging around this guy. This wasn't exactly the guy she wanted to be associated with...

"I know, man! I didn't mean to poop on him, it just sorta happened!" Bobby responded, showing no guilt on the matter. Bobby suddenly jumped up and flapped away along with Wally to go back to the dance floor.

"And finally, this is the famous Petricious!" Arthur said with a booming voice, trying to imitate an almost announcer-like tone that her show was accustomed to having as a narrator.

"I don't need those introductions Arthur, I hear those everyday in LA!" Petricious laughed with a deep Italian accent as she playfully nudged Arthur.

"So, you were the one who replaced Nigel on Fly Hard?" Jewel asked, trying to show some interest on the matter.

"That gastly cockatoo? Yes my dear. The directors felt he lost audience appeal, so they put me into the show. I get payed much more and do my own stunts, unlike that cowardly cockatoo." Petricious explained, voicing extreme displeasure when measuring Nigel. Jewel suddenly liked this girl. Anyone who hated that insane cockatoo was a friend of her's.

"Speaking of which, I heard you were being hunted by him a few days ago! How'd you manage to get rid of him?"

"Oh, Blu fired him out of a plane and into a propeller." Jewel explained as if it was a normal occurence. Petricious actually laughed at the image of the once proud cockatoo being torn to shreds in a propeller...Too bad she didn't know he was just naked and embarassed.

"Nice job, Blu! You finally rid the world of another stuck-up bird." Petricious said with a smile as she moved uncomfortably close to Blu.

"Uh, thanks. So, who's up for more dancing, huh?" Blu said rapidly, trying to stay away from any suspicious stuff with Petricious. Jewel wouldn't be happy with that, he figured.

"Oh heavens no, I'm completely tired out! How's about me and Blu get to know each other while you two share your...Lady talking." Arthur stuttered, showing an obvious intellectual-deficit about lady birds. Blu couldn't really understand why he was going with him, but he felt obligated to.

"Fine, dear!" Petricious called as Arthur and Blu left quickly, "You wouldn't believe what Paraguay was like before I moved to LA. A shack compared to California!"

Jewel suddenly felt changed about the matter. If he had friends like Petricious, maybe he wouldn't be so annoying after all.

...

Meanwhile, Blu and Arthur landed on a tree branch near Blu and Jewel's nest. The two sat in silence for a few moments, taking in all the sounds of the night. A few songbirds chirped to the rythme of the crickets, a cardinal quickly made his way across the forest, chirping proudly.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Blu asked, trying to start a conversation. Blu didn't think Arthur was all that bad. A little strange, he'd admit, but a nice bird with good spirits.

"Indeed my friend. Nights like these don't even compare to the nights over Orlando." Arthur said with absolute wonder in his eyes, staring off into the night sky. Blu suddenly noticed he was watching two Cardinals in the sky, dancing happily in their aerial love. The Cardinals then flew close to each other and headed off elsewhere.

"See, those two have a reason to fly. Telling the world of their love. Ringing the bell for the whole world to know. The reason for life, I tell ya." Arthur said with a soft voice, letting nature play its melody of love and night.

"That's the same way I feel about Jewel." Blu said with a soft voice as well. The mood was too perfect for talking. It was now reduced to almost a whisper of a conversation.

"You have the life, Skip. You have the best reason for life. She's the one, my boy. A reason to fly...A reason for life." Arthur said, his voice drifting off at every word. Blu had to hold back tears. Arthur wasn't the most understandable during the day, but when he was serious he was passionate.

"Thanks Arthur." Blu sniffled. Arthur glanced over at Blu with a warm smile. It was truly a beautiful moment of nature at work.

"Me? All I've done in my life is sit on the same desk every day that Mr. Jenkins wrote on. I'd watch the beautiful birds pass by. Their lives unfolding, true meaning to their life. Meanwhile, I'd sit there, longing for the day I could leave that rusty old house and find the love I so needed in my life..." Arthur sighed, also beginning to sniffle.

"What about Petricious? She called you 'dear'. Aren't you with her?" Blu asked. Arthur chuckled a bit and shook his head with a smile.

"Oh no, Blu. She's too good for me. She deserves a bird that can provide. A chance to live a life with a bird who loves her most. I only treat her as a friend." Arthur explained.

"That's what I thought about Jewel a few days ago...Until she showed me the real way of life." Blu sighed. It was almost too much emotion that this conversation was carrying. He was about ready to explode into tears.

"You have a bird to care about...Jewel is the thing you care about most, and you deserve it. Me...All I care about is the simple thing that you two have..." Arthur said lowly. Blu was feeling bad for Arthur. His life was similar to himself...Being trapped behind walls, not knowing the true bird love he had missed.

"What's that?" Blu asked. Arthur began to raise his head, slowly building up his voice.

"All I can care about...The only thing I can care about now...Is love...I don't need all that drama and such in the world...Just give me...Give me..." Arthur said, his voice suddenly starting to build strength, until his voice broke into a melodic tune. Blu couldn't believe it...This reporter bird..._This passionate reporter bird_...Was singing...

_Give me two...Eyes of blue...Softly saying, 'I need you'!_

_Lemme see her, flying there and...Honest mister, Imma millionaire!_

Blu was completely amazed. This bird, original looking to be another cooky fellow from another land, was...Truly caring. Blu could almost cry at a time like this...Unfotunetly he couldn't, thanks to Arthur landing so hard on the tree branch they were perched on, Blu's side cracked apart and he was sent falling about 15 feet to the ground.

"Oh my, Blu. Sorry about that!" Arthur called down.

"It's okay! Just a little head ache!" Blu called back up hazily.

"Unbelievable story! Blue McCaw falls out of tree and lives! That'll go right on page C2, right next to the sports!...Darn Rays..." Arthur muttered, referring to the lousy Tampa Bay baseball team.

"Let's get back to the caring part and help me up please?" Blu yelled from below.

...

PLEASE PLEASE review! Support is definetly accepted!

I'm loving writing this story! Those last few lines of the chapter were especially fun!

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	4. Wounded

REVIEWS would be nice, thank you!

I understand most of you are visitors, but some of you could comment. I love writing this fic, but c'mon, YOU KNOW YOU WANNA! Haha!

To the people reading and commenting, once again THANK YOU! I've been in the fanfiction business for close to 5 years now, and every year you guys get better! Keep the feedback coming!

...

Chapter 4

Wounded

**3 days later...**

It was almost a melodic tune that played in Blu's head at night. It almost felt like he'd heard it before...All the birds had known the tune...What was it that made him remember, though?

_...Get up and join-in the fun!_

_Dancing with strangers, _

_romance and danger! _

_Magic could happen in Rio!_

_In Rio!_

_All by itself!_

_You're Dancing and knowing..._

_You c__an't find it anywhere else!_

All of the sudden, this dreamily enchanting music suddenly changed tune, and a voice he'd never heard in his dreams began to chime in with a different tune...

_Jungle love, it's drivin' me mad!_

_It's makin' me crazy! (Crazy!)_

_Jungle love, it's drivin' me mad, it's makin' me CRAZY!_

_But lately you live in the jungle..._

_I never see you alone._

_But we need some definite answer, _

_so I thought I would write you a poem._

_The question to everybody's answer,_

_is usually asked from within!_

_But the birds in the rain, and the truth they contain_

_they'll live their life without sin!_

_Jungle love, it's drivin' me mad,_

_it's makin' me crazy! (Crazy!)_

Blu's eyes popped open, the strange melody he was listening to not leaving his head. Blu popped his head up from the nest he and Jewel were sleeping in.

"What the?" Blu exclaimed out loud, managing to wake up Jewel in the process. Blu quickly made his way to the hole in the tree to see a whole group of birds singing along with a fast-flying blue Mccaw...The one and only Arthur.

"What's going on?" Blu asked to no one in particular. Arthur quickly landed next to Blu with a large smile, with a group of birds following.

"Blu my boy! Glad to see you heard our little jam session!" Arthur said with a laugh. All the birds singing landed along with Arthur, all surrounding Blu.

"Jam session? What about sleep?" Blu asked with a nervous smile, still half-asleep. Arthur slapped Blu on the back with a huge laugh and then motioned to everyone to join in, to which the birds that were singing did as well. Out of the crowd of birds, Blu was able to notice Pedro and Nico in the crowd with a quick glance.

"Who needs sleep when you're in Rio? A land of joy, color, sun and the wonderful fun of singing your heart out!" Arthur exclaimed, to which all the birds cheered in response.

"Mr. Headliner's got it right! All partying all day!" Pedro exclaimed. Everyone quickly flew back to what they were doing, and only Arthur, Pedro and Nico were left in front of the confused Blu.

"Well...I should probably get back to sleeping..." Blu said with a soft laugh as he headed back into the tree, when he bumped into Jewel, who looked still-asleep.

"Too late for that..." Jewel groaned tiredly. Arthur laughed with a small, embarassed smile. His intentions were to only entertain. He didn't realize he was causing distress.

"Oh, I'm sorry gal. I'll be quiet for the rest of the day...Around here at least." Arthur snickered with a clever smile.

"He's got that right! We were headin' on down to The Branch later on to get down some more! This fool can rock the Samba!" Nico exclaimed, putting extra exclamation on describing Arthur.

"Well, I'd better be going. Wally and Bobby were heading over to the beach, and Lord knows how much I need some sun after being cooped up in Mr. Anderson's old steel shack!" Arthur said gleefully as he quickly burst away on one flap of his wings.

"See you later, Blu! We going to see if we have any early entries for the big event tonight!" Pedro said, intentionally trying to peak Blu's interest.

"Big event? What's that?" Blu asked. Pedro gave himself a victorious, smug smile, knowing he did his job well at pulling in the birds.

"Oh, we're just having THE BEST party ever! Arthur is holdin' it. All his friends will be there too! You ganna come?" Pedro responded. Blu looked at Jewel with concern in his face, knowing she'd probably disagree on it.

"Uh...I'll think about..." Blu said with an unsure tone, carefully watching Jewel's face extend into an angry expression...A angry, half-asleep expression at that. Pedro slowly felt defeat at this tone of voice, when Nico suddenly came up with a genius idea.

"You know...Petricious is going to be there..." Nico said with his deep accent as he fluttered next to Jewel, who obviously knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to convince Jewel to come to The Branch just because Petricious was there...Who had definetly made a good impression on the birds a few nights ago...

"...Fine, we'll see if we can come." Jewel sighed, knowing she couldn't say no to Nico. After all, he'd probably quiver his bottom lip until they gave in anyway...Might as well not delay the inevitable, Jewel thought.

"Good to hear, guys! See you tonight at nineteen hundred!" Pedro exclaimed as he and Nico bolted off.

"In case you didn't know, nineteen hundred is military for seven!" Pedro added on as he and his canary friend headed off to The Branch.

...

Arthur slowly coasted along the shoreline of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. While Arthur did want to stay close to the jungle where he and his friends lived, he and his buddies loved the town of Copacabana that was only a few flaps of the wings away from Botafogo, the town that bordered the forest.. As the great man named Barry once stated 'Music and passion is always the fashion'.

Arthur quickly spotted Bobby perched on an umbrella, slowly observing the passing food with eyes of envy.

"Dang people. They get all the good stuff while we get the scraps. It just ain't fair!" Bobby said angrily in his deep Brooklyn accent. Arthur landed next to Bobby with a laugh, hearing his friend's entire rant.

"You think that way because you ate your Momma's throw up for years as a kid." Arthur laughed. Bobby looked down at the ground in an almost shameful fashion, and then he laughed.

"I guess so. Momma was a worse cook than a lunch lady with no hair net!" Bobby exclaimed, slowly trying to rid the awful taste from his memories...A strange bird, Bobby was.

"So, you know where Wally is? He told me he was..." Arthur stopped halfway through, noticing a huge flock of birds gathered near a certain seagull by the name of Wally. A clear sound of singing could be heard from the same area as well. The crowd broke to reveal Wally, looking as if he was having a fun time.

"...Nevermind." Arthur muttered. Bobby laughed as he watched a group of lady birds swooning over Wally.

"...You know, you need a lady friend." Bobby said, breaking a brief silence. Arthur looked at Bobby quizzingly, not understanding the statement.

"What? A girlfriend?...That's a cracker jack idea, my Bobby boy!" Arthur exclaimed. Bobby pondered for a moment, and suddenly came up with a great idea.

"What about that sweet o'le Jewel girl? She looks like a cute little thing...And she's one of your species, dude!" Bobby said with resounding reason in his voice. It was clear that Bobby had some love for his blue Mccaw buddy as well.

"Bobby...C'mon man, Blu deserves her. He's a wonderful little guy. Besides, Jewel there deserves better than an old sucker like me. I'm just...An old, soiled up blue Mccaw. It'd be hardly right to rip true love away from two birds who deserve each other." Arthur said with sorrow in his voice. Clearly his age was showing, with the rich, blue color of his wings starting to fade to grey, his eye color having lost its old, yellow tinge and his lack of fast flying ability also showing. Heck, even Pedro and Nico had noticed it. Arthur figured they were just good enough guys not to mention it.

"Don't talk like that, man. We'll get ya a girl...Wally knows his way around the ladies, you know..." Bobby snickered, pointing over to a group of lady seagulls perched next to Wally, all looking at him with affection in their eyes, while Wally responded with a blank stare leading to nowhere.

"Thanks guys, but I don't think any birdy would want me with how I am now..." Arthur sighed as he slowly flapped his wings, struggling to find the will to take off, and then flew off towards the jungle where he lived now...Until he figured out what to do with his soon-to-end life...

Wally suddenly noticed Arthur leaving, and flew over to where Bobby sat.

"Hey Bob, what's wrong with Artie?" Wally asked with some worry in is voice. Bobby shook his head slowly and blinked his eyes furiously, not knowing what to see.

"I don't really know...But I know what we're ganna do." Bobby said, his eyes suddenly changing to a determined look and his voice suddenly growing deeper and more heroic in a way.

"What's that?" Wally asked, sounding more and more like he knew what Bobby was suggesting...But he really had no idea what Bobby was talking about.

"We're going to play matchmaker..." Bobby said with a grin and a wink. Wally laughed to himself slowly, and then winked back, but then a blank stare hit his face.

"I don't get it..." Wally muttered, to which a slap was dealt to his face in return.

...

Meanwhile, Blu was enjoying his free time by using his new way to travel. It had been 15 years since he first fell out of that tree that was somewhere in the vast jungle, and he could finally feel the way he could slice through the wind like a knife through butter. The rush of the surroundings gathering in front of him as he burst past other birds that greeted him. He almost felt a complete bird in a way.

After a few minutes of flying, Blu suddenly noticed a strange-looking bird passing by. What made him noticeable was the fairly dull color he sported. He was a strange color of brown with only black to partner it. His feathers had split ends and looked to be extremely weathered. Multiple scars were also visible on his face, and he also had these strange, orange eyes that Blu couldn't help but feel were following him. What made it strangest was, the bird gave him a strange look from his thin eyes. Blu only thought about the bird for a few seconds, but then continued on his way. Suddenly, a loud sqwuak echoed from behind Blu, and all of the sudden the trees turned into a blurr, and Blu was smashed into a tree trunk and came face to face with the same strange-looking bird.

"...Well, if it isn't little Arthur Jenkins? Come out here for a little 'vacation'?" The bird asked, his German accent speaking smooth as silk. Blu was already shocked and fuzzy from the impact of the tree that he couldn't respond, which prompted the bird to suddenly start strangling Blu.

"Now tell me, how do you feel about me ripping your throat out so I never have to hear your putrid voice ever again?" The bird asked, his eyes narrowing with an evil charm, knowing he was doing his job...Only to the wrong bird.

"Look...I...I'm not A...Arthur..." Blu joked out, his body starting to go into an almost death-rattle sort of state. The bird slowly looked closer to Blu, who was beginning to actually be frightened by this strange bird. The bird then lowered his claw and then watched as Blu quickly gasped for air.

"Well...You're a blue Mccaw...TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" The bird screeched, flapping his wings madly and grabbing Blu's neck again, this time grabbing him even harder. Blu tried to gasp out whatever he could, but it was obvious this bird had SOMETHING against Arthur...But he needed to think of something quick, but Blu actually started to see blood trickling from the spot that this bird was grabbing fiercly, and he even began to feel faint as well. It was obvious Blu couldn't hold out much longer against this guy.

"I...I don't know...He's down in Copacabana...I think!" Blu exclaimed, speaking as fast as he could to try and get this bird off. The bird hesitated for a moment, loosening his grip, and then dropped his claw thoughtfully.

"Figures. That fool always loved his music...Too bad all he'll be hearing is 'Hell's Bells' when I'm done with him..." The bird said with a nefarious grin as he popped his claws and looked at them with content.

"Just stay out of the way, fool. This is no place for a weakling like you...Oh, and you should get your neck checked out." The bird said with an evil laugh, quickly bursting into the air. Blu looked down at his neck and remembered blood was trickling out. Blu suddenly lost his balance, and fell over, suddenly feeling his vision going away as well as his conscience.

"Someone get this guy some help! This guy's bleedin'!" A random bird yelled as a group of birds suddenly flocked around to help Blu. The last Blu could see was a huge flock of birds gathering in front of him when everything went black...

...

Arthur landed sloppily in front of the small fruit market that housed The Branch. He quickly noticed the huge tarp hung over the bird club. Arthur gave a small smile at the sight. At least a fun time with his friends could help him forget about the recent thoughts he was thinking of.

Arthur walked into the club, and spotted Pedro and Nico, sitting on the main stage on the club.

"Hey boys! How's the shindig shaping up?" Arthur asked, his voice streaming with a bit of happiness than a few minutes ago.

"Hey Artie! We're gearing up man! You got any songs for tonight?" Nico greeted as he flew over next to the journalist bird with Pedro close behind.

"Well fellas...I'm kinda in a bind." Arthur admitted, his voice sinking in tone.

"What's got you down, man? 'Cause if it's some bird puttin' you down then we'll be on 'em like Tabasco on a buffalo wing!" Pedro exclaimed, beginning to imitate boxing movements. Arthur and Nico both exchanged confused looks.

"Pedro dude, those two things don't 'mix'." Nico explained with a puzzled look.

"Well boys...Do you think I need a mate?" Arthur asked, sounding incredibly nervous and looking like it as well judging by his twitching. Both Pedro and Nico exchanged huge grins to this question.

"Artie, we thought you'd never ask! You need a half to match your half!" Pedro exclaimed.

"Ya see, there's always the first thing you need to remember. Brazilian ladies respond to confidence, Artie." Nico started, beginning the same briefing he'd done for Blu only a about a week ago.

"You also gotta go up to, gun's ablazin'! Narrow yo eyes, like some crazy love hawk!" Pedro exclaimed, following Nico step-by-step in their lady-explaining routine. Arthur suddenly became concerned when Pedro mentioned hawks.

"Oh, hawks. I don't like hawks..." Arthur muttered with a nervous tone. Nico and Pedro looked at Arthur with confused looks.

"Dude, it's just a metaphor." Nico said flatly, sounding a bit creeped out in a sense.

"I know...Sorry fellas." Arthur laughed, suddenly losing his headliner voice and beginning to sound nervous and constantly glancing around to the ceiling.

"So, who do you have your eyes on?" Pedro asked, perking his eyebrows with a smooth grin to compliment it.

"Well...I can't say I'm looking at any girls. Petricious is too good for me..." Arthur said as his voice trailed off.

"C'mon Artie boy! You can't think that way! Petricious likes you man! Is there anyone she'd like BESIDES you? An old friend named Paul once said you know it can't be bad when she loves ya!" Pedro assured. Arthur looked longingly the other way, thinking about what Pedro had just said.

"You know, you're right. I need to shape up." Arthur said, his original voice suddenly returning with power.

"Yeah!" Pedro exclaimed.

"I need to make my move!" Arthur said, suddenly rising to his feet, his soul rising in strength and courage.

"Yeah!" Nico chimed in.

"I need...TO BE A LOVE MCCAW!" Arthur exclaimed, spreading his wings fully and dancing around joyfully.

"YEAH!" Both Pedro and Nico exclaimed as they followed Arthur in dancing. For once today, Arthur felt truthfully happy and confident.

Suddenly, Arthur stopped in his dancing around and noticed Rafael had suddenly shown up, and the look on his face was frantic.

"Artie! Pedro! Nico! You gotta come quick!" Rafael exclaimed, sounding extremely urgent in his tone of voice.

"What? What happened?" Arthur asked, while Pedro and Nico were still distracted in their dancing.

"Blu got hurt!" Rafael exclaimed, which suddenly snapped Pedro and Nico back to reality as they both gasped in shock while Arthur became speechless.

"Oh gosh! We gotta get there before he ends up in the Obituaries!" Arthur said with worry in his face as he bolted off out of the club. Pedro and Nico zoomed after him with Rafael on their tail.

...

Arthur shakely smashed into the ground below, frantically trying to find Blu.

"Blu! Blu, buddy where are you?" Arthur yelled, running around in different directions trying to find his blue Mccaw friend.

"Artie, he's at the sanctuary! He looks bad!" Pedro yelled from what sounded far away, but in reality was about 10 yards away.

"I'm coming!" Arthur exclaimed as he quickly beated his wings. Arthur finally spotted the bird sanctuary that Blu's owner (Arthur remembered it as...Glenn?) owned, and he quickly touched down, landing on one foot first and tripping, ending his landing attempt with a resounding _THUD! _as he landed on the hard wood below.

"Well, that went well." Arthur moaned as he picked himself up slowly, suddenly noticing Pedro and Nico only a few feet away, perched on a wood railing facing the door leading inside the building.

"Pedro! Is he okay?" Arthur exclaimed frantically, quickly flying up next to them.

"No man, he looks bad. He was bleedin' all over. Never seen so much blood outta poor guy like him..." Pedro said with sorrow in his voice.

"I heard 'em saying they're going to check him out. I just hope he ain't too hurt..." Nico added. Arthur looked down in deep thought, when he suddenly thought of a horrid thing. A possible occurence that could mean that this wasn't an accident...

"Did anybody know what happened?" Arthur asked, concern in his voice truly showing now.

"All the birds around here were saying some hawk attacked him. All I can say is, that hawk better not come by us, because when you mess with friends, you mess with us!" Pedro exclaimed...But Arthur wasn't focused on this statement. The mention of a hawk suddenly made him feel ill. It'd couldn't be...

"Oh...A hawk? Did...Did they say what h...he looked like?" Arthur asked, beginning to twitch endlessly. He suddenly felt like he was ready to throw up.

"All the birds who say it said he looked roughed up. He had brown feathers and had orange eyes, and he looked like he wasn't from around here...Come to think of it, why is a hawk even in Rio?" Nico explained. Arthur's eyes suddenly rolled back into his head and he fainted, falling back-first into a group of bushes below.

"Oh man, not another blue Mccaw down!" Pedro exclaimed as he and Nico flew down to see if Arthur was okay.

...

A/N: Sorry about the insanely long chapter. I got carried away, and by the time I was set on the story, I already had 3,000 words typed down, haha.

Hope you had fun reading this story so far (I know I'm having fun!) and PLEASE REVIEW!

**P.S.**

**That song sung by Arthur that interlocked with 'Real in Rio' at the beginning was 'Jungle Love' by the Steve Miller Band. Sorry for those out-of-place lyrics, just felt like a fitting song for an American bird to sing when in the jungle! I suggest looking it up, great song when actually listened to!**


	5. Amore

Alright, welcome back!

I'm hoping you're enjoying the fic, because I'm having tons of fun! Never knew writing a fic for Rio would be loads of fun! I'll keep the chapters coming as long as you guys keep reviewing!

Also, I WILL fix this 'Macaw' problem. Just used to spelling it differently, XD

Also, the incorrect lyrics in "Real in Rio" WAS intentional. Besides just diversity, it's also done just to show how Arthur is completely out of it...Some bird, huh?

Without further ado...CHAPTER 5!

...

Chapter 5

Amore

Arthur creaked his eyes open from the strange tumble he took, looking straight into the faces of Pedro and Nico.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Pedro asked, not knowing what to make of Arthur going down for almost no reason.

"Sorry...Just a little humid I guess...Hehe." Arthur said with a weak laugh. All of the sudden, a door opened on the bird sanctuary and out flew Jewel, who was clearly upset by what had just occured. Arthur lowered his eyes, knowing that he was involved in this mess. This certain hawk...Blu's injury...The possibility of him...No, that wasn't going to happen, Arthur thought.

Arthur slowly flapped up next to Jewel, who was busy sobbing uncontrollably. Arthur slowly tried to figure out what to say in a time like this.

"Jewel...I'm sorry about what happened to Blu...And if it makes up for anything I've done...I'll stick with you guys the rest of the way through his recovery...No more partying for me." Arthur said with sorrow in his voice, knowing how that this is what he should've been doing the whole time...Not living it up like a player, or flying through the beaches...Staying with his own kind was where he should've been...

Jewel looked at Arthur with her blue eyes that constantly dazzled Artie. While he would never betray his friend Blu, he knew that Bobby was right...She certaintly was a darling.

"Well...Thanks Artie." Jewel responded, actually showing some caring to Arthur. Arthur smiled uneasily, and then lowered his head.

"I just feel bad...Blu doesn't deserve random hawks attacking him. An innocent old bird like him deserves better...Then again, he has you." Arthur said with concern, but then trying to flatter Jewel a bit. Jewel glanced at Artie with a 'How sweet' look, then went back to thinking what to do about Blu's condition. Rafael suddenly fly down next to Arthur, his face parrallel to his normal, smooth smile.

"They're saying that they could patch it up in a bit. If all goes bueno, he'll be out in an hour or two." Rafael stated with worry in his voice. Arthur felt some hope in the matter. At least Blu wasn't at risk of dying...But this still seemed scary for Arthur.

"Hey Pedro? Do you still wanna go through with the event tonight?" Arthur asked, breaking an awkward 10 second silence. Pedro glanced at Nico with an unsure look, who responded back with a shrug.

"Uh...If you wanna." Pedro said with a nervous look back. Arthur glanced around the forest, nervously thinking about the hawk that attacked Blu. Was this REALLY the same hawk?

...

Meanwhile, unknown to the whole gang of birds, Bobby and Wally had been watching the whole situation go down.

"Man, did you see that?" Bobby asked as he watched the group do absolutely nothing.

"What, the part where they're just standing there silently? I've been watching that for 5 minutes now." Wally responded in a bored tone. Bobby slapped Wally on the back of the head in response.

"No doofus! I mean Arthur! He was puttin' the moves on Jewel!" Bobby said with sureness in his voice, not realizing what Arthur had actually done.

"So? What does that have to do with...Oh..." Wally realized, smiling cleverly.

"So...Let's help 'em out a bit. Set the mood, man." Bobby said while he licked his wing and slicked his one plumed feather down to his head for no apparent reason other than to look...Decent.

"Don't worry about that man. New Jersey is known for it's old, Italian charm." Wally said as he raised his eyebrow, feeling clever. Bobby was seemingly shocked by this statement.

"Really? I thought New Jersey was known for its trash...Trash...And the fact they love millionares." Bobby said with a laugh. Wally glared at Bobby angrily in response.

"Don't kid about the Garden State, man. We tan our lives away." Wally said with anger in his voice, suddenly sounding like a certain guy from a show based in New Jersey only by name...His name was 'The Occurence', I suppose.

"...Just stick with the plan before we start offending people..." Bobby stated flatly.

"You wanna do it at The Branch tonight?" Wally asked, his voice lowering in the discussion that previously commenced.

"Yeah, sure..."

...

Arthur looked down sadly at the jungle floor below. He couldn't believe it. His past had finally caught up with him...He could still remember the memories of this strange hawk that followed him...Arthur had left the house of Andrew Jenkins only 3 weeks ago. He left in secrecy, sneaking out of Mr. Jenkins' house while he was working at the offices of the Lauderdale Gazette. Unfortunetly, Arthur had failed to remember that Andrew had another exotic pet...A 10-year old red-tailed hawk named Krieg. His past was shrouded with mystery to Arthur's knowledge. All he knew about the guy was he was a transit from Germany. Andrew had ordered him at a max cost of $525. Apparently, Krieg was a VERY important bird. This was only one reason to why Arthur decided to leave...Another was the fact Andrew had cooped him up for years on end without a true life for Artie.

Krieg had always stared at Arthur will envious eyes. Krieg obviously hated Arthur for his 'freedom' that seemed so great. Arthur could roam around freely all day long, while Krieg was only released during the night when Arthur was caged. As far as Arthur knew, some VERY strange occurences went on at night when Krieg was alone with Andrew. In fact, the last time Arthur saw Andrew was the night before he skipped town. He only was awake long enough to see Krieg get let out, and then he saw Krieg unleash his wrath on Andrew. Krieg hated society, especially Andrew Jenkins. Krieg hated every human...Ever since seeing his own family be dismantled thanks to hunting of red-tailed hawks, he hated not only humans (Andrew the most), but the pyscho-hawk also hated Arthur. He always seemed happy with his life. Free and no worries that Krieg could see...Apparently Krieg hated society enough that he attacked Andrew. Since then, Arthur hadn't seen Krieg...The only explanation was that Krieg was hunting him down...And Blu had been caught in the crossfire.

...

Speaking of Blu, the same bird wake up with a sudden start. The blu Macaw stared around, scared out of his mind at what had happened before.

"Am...Am I alive?" Blu asked himself. He suddenly turned around, and staring him in the face was Arthur, only his face was red with his eyes a glowing red color, who was strangely talking in a autotuned-sounding voice.

"No Blu...You're just sleeping...But you'll be dead soon...MAKE US WHOLE...Ah forget it. Let's stop with the references to video games." Arthur said with a bored tone, as his face suddenly changed to normal, but then strangely his face melted like plastic under a hot lamp. His whole body was then just a skeleton.

"To let you know Blu my boy, this whole dream sequence is pointless. You can wake up now..." The dream Arthur suddenly said as he pinched Blu, and suddenly Blu actually wake up, facing a window to the jungle outside. Blu felt around quickly, checking to see if he was still in one piece, and he sighed in relief when he found everything was normal.

"Why did that dream feel so real...And pointless?" Blu questioned as he stared out the window, not remembering his bloody neck from before. Blu looked down at his neck and saw that his wound was healing nicely, with only a scar left on his neck.

...

While Arthur was still recalling the memory of the strange Krieg, Pedro and Nico quickly bolted out from the side of the sanctuary and slammed into Arthur, knocking him off balance.

"Guys! Blu's okay!" Pedro exclaimed. Everyone suddenly got into commotion and ran over to the side window, and there was Blu, standing at the window with only a scar remaining on his neck.

"Blu, amigo! I knew you were a tough enough bird!" Rafael laughed as he was about to embrace Blu when he quickly backed away.

"You can't touch me right now! As far as I can tell, stitches aren't supposed to be hugged for the first hour or so." Blu said with a nervous tone.

"Let's hope you'll be all set for The Branch tonight. We can't have a party without you!" Pedro exclaimed. Blu looked over at Jewel concerningly, who got the wrong message by the glance-over.

"Oh no, he's not going to The Branch tonight! I don't think it's a good idea for him to be shaking his tail across a dance floor only 3 hours after getting his throat cut open..." Jewel said, sounding almost like a mother to Blu. Blu groaned, and then glanced at Jewel with an embarassed look.

"C'mon Jewel! Can't I at least just be there? I've got 5 people to watch me there. Can't I go?" Blu whined, sounding like a 7-year old kid whining for a toy. Jewel rolled her eyes, but then smiled in an obvious show of agreement.

"Fine...But you're not going to be dancing." Jewel added, which made Blu groan once again. Only this time, Jewel didn't move an inch in her decision.

"Alright! This thing's goin' down in 3 hours! Better start gearing up! You wanna come with, Artie?" Pedro asked the now lighter-hearted Arthur, but still sported a sad-looking face.

"Uh...Yeah. I'll come with you guys! Can never be too prepared!" Arthur laughed, slapping a smile on in an attempt to hide his regret.

"Alright amigos! See you tonight!" Rafael called as the 3 birds flew off towards The Branch.

"And YOU will get some more sleep..." Jewel said to Blu, to which Blu sighed.

"C'mon, I just had an awful dream about Arthur's skin melting off!" Blu sighed. Rafael and Jewel both looked at Blu with scared looks.

"Like I said last week Blu, nothing you say makes sense!" Rafael laughed, to which Blu slowly walked back into the sanctuary window.

"Wake me up later on..."

...

"Bobby, we'd better go with those guys. Not only do we have to get Arthur hooked up with that Jewel girl, but I got a performance tonight!" Wally exclaimed, extending his wings to fly.

"Really? What are yo singin', man?" Bobby asked as he also prepared to fly.

"Eh, it's a surprise. Let's go be matchmakers like you said..." Wally said flatly as he burst off after the other birds.

...

Arthur looked over the entirety of The Branch that was about to be packed with birds. He felt the need to be ready for the event. After all, it was almost 7 pm.

"Hey Artie! You ready to put the moves on Petricious?" Pedro asked as he flew down next to Arthur.

"I guess so, Pedro my boy. It's just...That hawk those birds were talking about...It sounds like one I knew a while ago..." Arthur said with fear striking his voice. Pedro shrugged the comment off with a smile.

"C'mon man! You know we'll have yo back! Ain't no hawk gettin' into this party!" Pedro assured as he put his hand around Arthur's neck in a brotherly fashion.

"That's great of you, my boy. So, you mind if you help play my song with me tonight?" Arthur asked, suddenly lighting up a bit.

"Sure thing man! First though, we need to get you hooked up with Petricious! When are those guys comin' over here anyway?" Pedro asked. Arthur hesitated for a moment.

"Well, Bobby and Wally were heading over here soon. I'm guessing Petricious is still back out in Copacabana. They'll be here around the same time as everyone else, more likely than not." Arthur answered.

"Alright, that's good news...Because it's time for party time!" Nico exclaimed as a wave of birds suddenly plowed into The Branch as the party had begun.

"Well, you get yourself all set up. Me and Nico are ganna tune this place up!" Pedro said quickly as he headed up with Nico towards the main stage. Arthur looked around nervously, hoping in all his might that Petricious wouldn't show up...These hopes seemed dashed when Arthur suddenly felt a tap on his back.

"I LOVE YOU!" Arthur screamed as he spun around, suddenly coming to face a baffled Bobby and Wally.

"I didn't know you had those feelings man...Guess we'll cancel the plan, huh?" Wally said jokingly to Bobby as both laughed loudly. Arthur laughed with a small smile, but then realized that Wally mentioned a plan.

"What's this plan you're talking about, boys?" Arthur asked after his buds were finished laughing.

"Well, we saw you and Jewel earlier...And we couldn't help but notice you were putting 'the moves' on her, boy." Bobby said with an attempt of a Spanish accent in his voice. Arthur's look suddenly shrunk into a small frown.

"Bobby boy, what did I tell you, I'm not..." Arthur was cut off by Bobby, who stopped his friend mid-speech.

"C'mon man, we know you like her! We'll help ya get her!" Bobby said as he and Wally flew off, waiting to put their plan into action. Arthur rolled his eyes angrily, knowing that this strange plan they had would mess up his time, but he had little time to notice this because he suddenly faced back in front of him to see Petricious looking right at him.

"Hello Arthur! How's the party going?" Petricious asked with her deep, smooth Italian accent. Arthur laughed nervously and blinked his eyes rapidly.

"Uh, it's going fine. Just opened, actually. So...How's your day been?" Arthur asked, trying not to strike out at this attempt. Arthur suddenly felt the stare of Pedro and Nico from far behind him.

"Oh fine, I suppose. I could use a little entertainment tonight, though." Petricious said in a flirting tone as she got closer to Arthur and fluttered her eyes. Arthur usually didn't think birds could sweat, but he suddenly felt himself sweating. Arthur quickly shot a glance over to Pedro and Nico, who both motioned to go farther into it.

"Well, if you're looking for some excitement, how's about a little Samab to cheer ya up?" Arthur asked with a sudden grin as he grabbed Petricious and then twirled her around playfully and then caught her in a small dance of sorts.

"I like that idea, Artie." Petricious laughed, enjoying the goofy but obviously clever action by Arthur. Pedro and Nico both exchanged accomplished looks, and then began playing once more, trying to help out Arthur in his attempt at love...His first in a while.

...

Meanwhile, Blu was suddenly shaken awake by Rafael, who seemed to be excited with the look on his face.

"C'mon Blu, we got to get to The Branch boy! Artie's waiting!" Rafael exclaimed as Blu slowly opened his eyes.

"Can't I sleep a little longer?" Blu asked groggily, not exactly focusing on going to 'The Event'.

"You were the one who begged me to go with your puppy-dog eyes. Now let's go!" Blu could hear Jewel exclaim angrily from the window. Blu rapidly jumped up and opened his eyes to look fully awake. Jewel could be a darling at times, but Blu was smart enough to know that nobody wanted to experience Jewel's wrath.

"Okay, I'm up! Let's go!" Blu exclaimed rapidly as he burst out the window of the sanctuary and headed through the trees.

"Wait for us, amigo!" Rafael called from behind...

...

...Unknown to the birds heading towards The Branch, someone happened to be watching them.

"So, the little birdies are going to have some fun...And I have a feeling they'll lead me right to 'Artie'."

"...So, it's time for a game of 'Running Bird'...Mr. Jenkins, prepare to become a pulled Macaw sandwhich...With schnitzel to boot..."

The strange shadow of what looked like a hawk then disappeared, apparently heading after the 2 blue Macaws so they could lead him to his final destination...

...

"So, you still afraid to tell me you love me?" Petricious suddenly asked while she and Arthur were slow dancing. Arthur's eyes shot open in surprise.

"I didn't know that you knew...But I suppose we all have to read the headlines and be surprised sometimes..." Arthur said to himself with a laugh. Petricious grabbed Arthur's head and made his nervous face meet her face.

"Stop acting like such a _sciocco _and kiss me..." Petricious said with a smile. Arthur smiled and then raised his eyebrow cleverly. Arthur knew this moment would come...Just not this late in his life...All this wasted time, and now he finally had that reason to live a life he had for 17 years now. Arthur slowly leaned in, as well as his fair, feathered maiden and both made the initial beak contact. Arthur suddenly knew how Blu felt...It was love. As Blu had said, the rythm of the heart...

Arthur and Petricious both pulled back, both sporting loving smiles. Arthur chuckled slowly following a 5 second smile.

"You know, I couldn't tell if the moon hit my eye...But I can tell you that this is definetly _amore._" Arthur snickered slightly.

"I feel the same way...Want to have some more fun?" Petricious asked. Arthur looked over at Pedro and Nico, who weren't exactly paying attention, but had begun playing a more romantic tune, so it was obvious they knew what had just happened.

"Yes, I believe we should have more fun tonight..." Arthur said with a grin as he lead off with Petricious once again. For once, Arthur felt...Complete.

...

As soon as Pedro and Nico finished playing, all the birds in the crowd erupted into applause. Pedro and Nico both exchanged accomplished looks, and then headed off-stage.

"Dude, you saw that right?" Nico asked as soon as they got off the stage.

"Yeah I did! Arthur's in love now! Dude, mission accomplished!" Pedro said loudly as he hi-fived Nico. Pedro glanced out again and saw Arthur wave over as he and his lovely lady bird danced together.

"Alright! Jewel and the other guys got here!" Nico exclaimed as he noticed Blu, Jewel and Rafael walk into the Branch.

"Cool man! The more the merrier!" Pedro exclaimed.

...

On the other side of the stage, Wally and Bobby were busy prepping for their performance.

"So, we ready to put Plan Love into action?" Wally asked as he tested his vocals. Bobby jumped up to a wire above the floor and winked.

"You betcha! I'll be in position for the plan!" Bobby assured. Wally smiled up at his pigeon friend. It was good to have a friend so willing to cooperate, Wall thought.

"Well, here I go...A seagull shouldn't have this much talent in a lifetime..." Wally laughed to himself as he pulled out a prop cigar pipe and popped it in his mouth.

"David Lee Roth, eat your heart out..."

Bobby began to coo like his species always does when they spot a fine piece of dirty bread lying on a New York street.

"What is it, man? I'm feeling the mood." Wally whined.

"I'm givin' the signal! Jewel and Arthur are near each other." Bobby exclaimed. Wally smirked.

"Well, that makes the job easier. Now, let's go knock 'em out!"

...

A/N: Yeah, I know this chapter kinda lacked a bit. This really wasn't my best effort, but it's all to set up **THE REAL DEAL** next chapter...Believe me, it'll be a BIG chapter.

So, comment wisely, remember this isn't the best I can do, and overall...

**READ, ENJOY, REVIEW!**


	6. BlitzKrieg

Hello everyone!

As always, THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the support!

Most fun I've had on in a while. Rio's fanbase has just EXPLODED lately, and it's great to see it's equalling to reviews and more fanfiction! I advise Rio fans to continue to spread the 'Rio-Fan Virus' that's been running lately! KEEP THE FANBASE ROLLING. Heck, maybe I'll make a fan forum after this...Haha!

...

Chapter 6

Blitz-Krieg

Bobby quickly but quietly flapped over through the huge crowd and stood behind Arthur, who was still currently having the time of his life with Petricious. Bobby became confused at this, but he figured it was just Artie being Artie. After all, he'd done plenty of stranger things in the time when Mr. Jenkins worked in New York.

"Hey Artie, we're all ready for our plan." Bobby whispered to Arthur, who apparently wasn't paying attention.

"That's great man..." Arthur muttered, not even taking his attention away from Petricious. Bobby rolled his eyes, but then gave a wave of a wing over to Wally. Wally waved back, and then the lights dimmed down in the club. Wally then slowly walked out onto the main stage with his pipe in his mouth as then looked at the huge crowd of birds.

"Hello all the birds of a feather! Happy to see you all here!" Wally called from up front. The strange seagull then began to pace back and forth in an obviously-acted out way.

"I'll tell ya about a bird I know. His name's Arthur Jenkins!" Wally exclaimed as a random spotlight suddenly shone down on Arthur, who noticed the light and waved around to the now-cheering crowd.

"I'll tell ya, he's had more time in the world than Henry Bemis to find the love of his life! I'll tell ya thought, he's a great man, and I'm going to give a little ode to the fine bird he is! Mr. Arthur Jenkins, this is for you my boy!" Wally exclaimed as he grabbed an almost guitar-type makeshift instrument off a nearby wall, and the began to strum a continous few notes, until it began to sound like a VERY familiar 1980s song by a Mr. David Lee Roth. Arthur suddenly recognized the song, and then smiled knowing the liberty Wally was taking for dedicating the great song to him.

_I'm just a gigolo and everywhere I go,_

_people know the part I'm playin'!_

_Payed for every dance, selling each romance!_

_Ooo, whadda say?_

_There will come a day, where youth will pass away..._

_what'll they say about me?_

_When the end comes I know, I was just a gigolo..._

_Life goes on...Without me!_

_I'm just a gigolo! (Gigolo!)_

_Now everywhere I go,_

_people know the part Artie's playin'!_

_Payed for every dance, sellin' each romance..._

_Oooo, whadda say?_

_There will come a day...Where youth will pass away..._

_What'll they say about me?_

_When the end comes I know, I was just a gigolo..._

_...Life goes on...Without me...'Cause..._

_IIIII AIN'T GOT NOBOOOOODY! _

_Nobody!_

_Cares-for-me! Nobody! No-body!_

_Cares-for-me!_

_IIIII'M SO SAD AND LOOOOONELY!_

_Sad and lonely, sad and lonely!_

_Won't some sweet birdie, come and take a chance with me, 'cause I ain't so bad!_

Bobby glanced over at Arthur, who looked to be fairly enjoying the tribute to him. Bobby suddenly realized the plan was about to be put into action. Bobby quickly jumped up onto a wire overhang and perched there in a lookout-like position.

"Alright, now I just wait for the cue! Bobby exclaimed, now waiting for Wally to give a lyric que of sorts. It was about time for it, as Wally began to sing once again after a sittulating trumpet solo.

_IIIIIII ain't got no-body!_

_Nobody! Nobody!_

_Cares-for-me! _

_Nobody! No-body!_

_IIIII'M so sad and LONEEEELY!_

_Sad and lonely, sad and lonely!_

Bobby suddenly saw Wally point over to him, which strangely changed the signal a bit from their original plan, but Bobby quickly shrugged the thought off and swooped down towards Arthur. Bobby then smashed into Artie with a resounding _THUD!, _and Arthur suddenly was sent right into Jewel, who was by herself for some reason.

"So, I guess they know alot about you?" Jewel asked sarcastically, to which Arthur rolled his eyes and laughed, glancing over at Bobby angrily, who was lying on the floor in agony.

_Nobody! (Nobody!)_

_Nobody! (Nobody!)_

_No-body! (Nobody!)_

"So, I see your friends with Petricious now?" Jewel asked over Wally's resounding singing voice.

"Oh yes! It certaintly is a case of-" Arthur couldn't finish, because suddenly Wally smacked into him from behind, obviously not only trying to spice up his performance, but also make the plan a success. Arthur suddenly launched forwards towards Jewel, when everything suddenly seemed to go super-slow...

Arthur could only catch a glance at Wally, who was just about done singing, Bobby who was looking up with a bright smile of success on his face, and...Blu, who had a confused look on his face as he entered the small clearing that opened up between Artie, Jewel, Bobby and Wally.

_No-body cares for me!_

Arthur then caught a last glimpse of Jewel, who he...Then locked beaks with out of sheer accident...Unless a carefully-thought out plan by two friends was called an 'accident'.

Arthur pulled his head back slowly and groggily, not remembering everything that had just happened in the last 5 seconds. The first thing that Arthur saw, however, was a haunting image...It was Blu, and the look on his face displayed the simple definition of heartbreak and anger mixed into a despair look with tears attached. Arthur glanced around quickly, not knowing what to say next. The whole place had gone quiet, all eyes focusing on Arthur. Arthur glanced over at his buds, who both had huge smiles on their faces, thinking they did a job-well-done. Arthur then looked at Jewel with fear budding in his mind, knowing something bad was about to greet him...

...And he was absolutely right. His look of confusion was met with a VERY angered look on Jewel's face. All she could do was stare at Artie for 5 seconds, but seemed like 5 hours. Nobody dared to move. The events that just occured was strange, but heartbreaking, confusing and terrible. Everybody knew what was going on...Arthur and Jewel had kissed...With Blu watching the whole thing unfold. Arthur attempted to open his now-extremely dry mouth, but no words came out on his first try.

"I...I...I don't know what to say...I didn't mean to..." Arthur stopped short, noticing Jewel's eyes forming into a collection of frustration and tears, anger...And suddenly a sharp pain streaked across Arthur's chest.

"AHH HOLY CHICKEN'S COOP!" Arthur screeched as he fell to the floor, grasping his chest in pain. Jewel had, from what Arthur could tell AND feel, just clawed his chest badly. The whole crowd reacted with screams and gasps as Artie fell to the floor and began to have a panic attack.

"Oh man, girl's gone nuckin' futs!" Bobby yelped as he ignored his pain and ran over to help his blue Macaw friend. Wally was still standing in the crowd, his mouth agape, not knowing what to do.

"...I...I need a minute..." Wally sobbed silently as he flew out of the club slowly. It was clear he knew what he had just caused...And he knew he should've listened to his Macaw friend's pleas that he wasn't going to do anything with Jewel...

Arthur tried to open his eyes, but the pain inside of him, mental AND physical, prevented him from doing so. The haunting looks everyone had given him was too much for one bird to take.

"Alright, everyone get outta here!" Pedro called from far back in the crowd, trying to tend to Artie. The whole entire crowd of people, including Jewel then left the club, leaving only Arthur's supposed 'friends' left, seeing as what just happened.

"C'mon man, you gotta get up!" Bobby demanded as he pushed Arthur, trying to make him rise. Arthur sighed and slowly lifted himself up, still grasping his chest, actually bleeding from the slash he took. Like I stated earlier, everyone was smart enough to avoid making Jewel mad...Arthur the only exception recently.

"Boys...Maybe it'd be a good idea if I left...Indefinetly..." Arthur said with a whisper. Arthur opened his eyes with...Strange, Arthur thought. It was almost like he crying...But that couldn't happen...Arthur Jenkins was a born man that never cries, Arthur thought to himself. Arthur then came face to face with Blu, who had the same look of sadness on his face. Arthur suddenly lost all strength to stand, seeing the same bird he'd talked to as a best friend a few days before, now heart broken. Arthur pulled his face off the ground, and actually had to keep himself from crying.

"Blu...I never meant for any of this to happen...All I wanted was love, but my friends took it too far...Blame it on me, I had to open my big mouth..." Arthur sighed. Blu couldn't respond with anything but the same, sad look on his face.

...

"So, looks like I found their little club...Let's add a little 'explosive' attitude to it, wouldn't agree dear?"

"No response? No matter, I'll make sure he'll fall into the dark pit below the Earth along with his friends...HAHAHAHA!"

...

"You don't have to leave, man." Bobby assured to Arthur, who was still wounded emotionally and physically. Arthur leaned up against a crate nearby for support while Bobby went to talk with Blu.

"Look, you ain't mad, are ya?" Bobby asked, trying to be friendly and sound caring. Blu stayed silent, staring outside into the sky.

"...Please don't be mad, Blu buddy..." Bobby continued.

"Oh, I'm not mad," Blu said sarcastically, carrying a sudden aggrevated tone.

"I'm just peachy! My 'best friend' just kissed my mate! What would I have to be mad about?"

Bobby glanced over at Arthur, who held a look that showed his despair. Bobby slowly walked out of the club as well, trying to fnd Wally...When a strong grip suddenly choked him.

"Hello, my little Bobby boy!" Krieg greeted with the glowing orange eyes that always scared the daylights of Kirge's prey.

"Hey Krieg...How's the family goin'?" Bobby asked, not realizing the true meaning behind what he just asked. Krieg's eyes then narrowed angrily, and Bobby was sent flying into a crate, and struck into it with a sickening _crack._

Meanwhile, Arthur was busy looking at Blu, who was now pacing around aimlessly. It was obvious that he wasn't sure what to do now.

"I'm going to look for Jewel...Hopefully she didn't go too far by now..." Blu sighed as he was about to fly off, when a sound of metal suddenly echoed from outside, and then a sound of this metal object rolling resounded.

"What...Is that?" Arthur asked, confused as everyone in the place. Suddenly, a giant propane tank rolled throug the club entrance, tearing apart a piece of the tarp in the process. The tank then rolled to a stop, leaving everyone confused.

"The heck is that?" Pedro asked, inspecting the tank from afar.

"It looks like...A propane tank." Blu observed, having seen then plenty of times back in Moose Lake.

"And...THAT THING'S OPEN!" Arthur screamed loudly, hearing a loud hissing coming from the tank. Pedro and Nico quickly reacted and flew right through the top of The Branch's roof tarp. Blu quickly turned to Arthur, who was making an attempt at limping out of the place.

"Can you fly?" Blu quickly asked, sounding as if he cared about Artie once again. Danger reinforces friendship, Arthur thought for 3 seconds.

"Does it look like I'm flying?" Arthur asked quickly. Blu bolted over to Arthur, grabbed him by the wing and quickly dragged him outside The Branch, just in time to be able to see The Branch explode into a firey mess, showering pieces of wood, glass and many other pieces of debris everywhere.

"Wow...You risked your life for me right after what I just did?" Arthur asked. Blu looked at his blue Macaw friend as if he was crazy.

"You may have done that, but no one deserves to be cooked like that..." Blu said with comradery in his voice. Arthur looked over to the giant mess just created by the propane tank.

"Who would even do that? Why would someone want to destroy The Branch?" Arthur asked himself. All of the sudden, his question was answered by a sharp pain that slipped into his chest once again. This time, however, it was a different source.

"I can finally say hello to you, Mr. Jenkins! Enjoying your little trip?" A German-accented voice asked. Arthur turned his head around, and came face to face with none other than the tormentor himself, Krieg the hawk.

"Krieg, my boy. Enjoy the time you've had to be the scumbag you are?" Arthur asked with a smirk. The blue macaw then spat in the eye of the orange-eyed hawk. Krieg was obviously angry by this, but instead he put a maniacal smile on and threw Arthur to the ground at such a force that even Arthur couldn't belive he was still alive. Arthur looked up and was quickly greeted by a frantic-looking Blu.

"Artie, that's the hawk from before!" Blu exclaimed in a frightened tone. Arthur attempted to stand, and was able to, but the sharp pain in his chest was starting to tear him apart.

"I know! I've known him for years! Do you know any place where we can lose him?" Arthur asked quickly, suddenly seeing from the back of his eye a sight of Krieg turning around, ready to smash into Artie. Blu thought quickly, trying to think of anywhere to hide, when suddenly the other blue Macaw was nailed to the ground by the red-tailed hawk.

"And I thought I told YOU to stay out of this, you piece of lunch meat?" Krieg asked devilishly, holding Blu up from his head with only one claw. Blu struggled to get out of the tight grip of the the hawk, but Krieg's grip only tightened even tighter. Just as Blu thought his skull was ready to burst apart, hope came in the form of Arthur, who jumped on the back of Krieg and became riding him almost like a horse. Krieg dropped Blu to the ground rather hard, but all the hawk could focus on was the Macaw on his head.

"I can give you three good reasons why you should get off me!" Krieg growled angrily, suddenly backing up quickly into a crate, jamming Arthur into the crate hard.

"One!"

Krieg then threw Arthur over his shoulders and into his chest, and then smashed Arthur into another crate, sending pain corresing through Arthur.

"Two!"

Krieg finally ended his assault by actually throwing Arthur into a glass window of a shop not too far away. Arthur wasn't even able to open his eyes before the dark shadow of Krieg continued to come toward him. All of the sudden, the figure of Blu suddenly smashed into Krieg, the two birds getting sent sprawling to the ground outside.

"Blu! Don't try to fight him!" Arthur yelled, basically crawling to where his friend and the Krieg were brawling. Blu was on top of Krieg, but Krieg then tossed Blu off to the side and then turned toward Arthur.

"Let's turn that crawl into a death rattle, Artie." Krieg laughed as he came toward Arthur with slow speed, obviously trying to intimidate him.

"What's wrong? Not going to fight me anymore? Am I too strong for you? Serves you right, all you ever did was slob around in that stink-hole you and Mr. Jenkins used to call a home." Krieg said, fear suddenly striking into Arthur as he tried to pull himself up.

"...You don't insult Mr. Jenkins like that. He may have cooped me up, but he treated me like family, more than he ever did you!" Arthur exclaimed as he rushed towards Krieg and smashed into him, knocking both to the ground once more. Arthur made every attempt at clawing Krieg's eyes out, but each one barely missed, only making Krieg angrier and angrier, until he let out a loud shriek and clenched Arthur's foot and threw him a good 10 feet, only coming within 5 feet of the huge inferno that used to be The Branch.

"Arthur, get over here!" Blu called from what Arthur could tell was past the huge inferno behind him. Arthur turned around and spotted Blu on a trolley car only 10 or 15 feet away. Arthur quickly opened his wings, which were thankfully still working, and painfully flew to the trolley car from where Blu was calling from. Krieg watched the two Macaws speed away, towards wherever they were going with an angry glare.

"...Cat and Mouse is a game I do not play, pretty birds. However, I play a nice game of 'Kill the Macaws'..." Krieg said as flapped up with his wings quickly and burst after the trolley car.

...

A/N: I know, VERY varied chapter. Some of it was the despair talked about earlier, some of it was pure action and horror involving the Krieg scenes. However, everything will come full-circle soon. Once again, these chapters are done for setting up the ending I have planned...

So...**READ, ENJOY, REVIEW!**


	7. Killing Instinct

Keep up the support guys! I keep stressing this, but I'm LOVING the amount of fun that it is working on this story! Ideas are just POURING out, and it's great to be able to write a story with the support you're giving! Keep up it, boys!

...

Chapter 7

Killing Instict

Arthur quickly flew to the trollie Blu was perched on with the remaining strength he had, and the slammed to the roof of the trollie.

"What are we going to do? He almost killed us back there!" Blu said with fear in his voice as he paced back and forth worridly.

"Look, if we can find a safe place to hide, we may be able to lose him!" Arthur reasoned, trying to calm down Blu.

"We can't lose him! You saw what he did to us, he's a wrecking machine! He practically killed both us, and in my case, twice!" Blu exclaimed. Arthur sighed, and then walked back to the rear of the car.

"Look...I'm sorry for this whole mess. Not just Krieg...But the Jewel thing..." Arthur muttered, still trying to clear his mind of the horrible occurence only about 10 minutes ago. Blu glanced over at Arthur with an understanding look and then perched next to the other Macaw.

"It's fine...I'm sure a bird like Jewel will understand..." Blu responded, smiling at Arthur assuringly, which indeed made him feel better. All of the sudden, Arthur spotted a shadow of a bird blocking the shining moon above, suddenl realizing it was Krieg.

"Oh no, Krieg's back!" Arthur exclaimed. Blu noticed it as well and began to panic, running to the front of the trollie in fear.

"Look, if we can outsmart him, we'll have no problem hiding somewhere. Do you know any place that this trollie takes us that we can hide in?" Arthur asked frantically, noting the quickly approaching Krieg. Blu thought quickly, thinking of any of the stops the trollie took...When an idea struck into his head.

"Luiz! There's a garage that my friend lives in a few stops from here! If we can get there, it'll be easy for us to hide there!" Blu said with resolve in his voice.

"Great...Now let's..GAH!" Arthur gasped as he smashed into by Krieg and flew about 30 feet from the impact and landed hard onto a rail of the trollie car. Arthur then felt himself being picked up.

"You're dead meat, Arthur." Krieg whispered to Arthur sinisterly. Krieg then began to shake Arthur violently, and then slammed him to the ground on the rail, a few cracks of bones echoing off into the air. Arthur creaked his eyes open with any strength he had left, and suddenly saw the trollie car about 8 feet from him.

"Adios, stupido." Krieg said with a laugh as he flew off. Arthur frantically staggered to his feet, and then began running from the approaching trollie car.

"Why haven't I been killed yet?" Arthur asked jokingly as he quickly staggered along, hoping he was actually avoiding the car. Arthur took a huge lung, and suddenly he ended up on top of the trollie car next to Blu by sheer luck.

"...He'll be back knowing he didn't kill me..." Arthur muttered, trying to catch his breath. Blu looked up, and spotted trees from the last time he was on this trollie line.

"I got an idea." Blu said confidently. Blu bolted off quickly, to which Arthur groaned.

"C'mon pal, this is harder for me than it looks!" Arthur said tiredly as he zoomed off with his buddy.

"Fly through the trees! It'll be harder for him to keep track of us!" Blu called from ahead. Arthur looked behind him, and saw nothing but the trollie car and approaching rain clouds in the sky.

"Where'd he go?" Arthur asked himself. Blu couldn't care less. They may have actually finally lost that pyschopath hawk.

"Good thing! Let's hope it's a straight shot to Luiz's..." Blu muttered, trying to phase out the obvious pain he experienced in the fight back outside the wreckage of The Branch. A rib perhaps...He couldn't tell, but it was a stinging pain. Thankfully, his neck didn't get touched...Though it was likely Krieg had something planned for it, Blu thought.

"You okay?" Blu asked Arthur worridly. Arthur looked down at his chest, his wound from Jewel earlier still leaking fresh blood, partly because of the cut and partly from Krieg's assault. The rail slamming and glass window didn't help other. Much of his body ached, and even a few bones felt broken. Still, Arthur considered himself a tough bird. Almost 20 years of experience didn't go to waste, Arthur thought.

"I'll be fine...I just want this nightmare to end." Arthur said sadly, referring to Krieg in general. He had been staring at him with those evil, orange eyes for years, and while it had originally only been intimidating, it now actually frightened Artie.

"I just hope the other guys are okay...Especially Jewel..." Blu responded back.

...

"Dude, we need to go after them! You saw that guy! They're not ganna beat him alone!" Pedro exclaimed.

"Pedro, that guy was throwing them like rag dolls! We need Raf and Jewel!" Nico responded with fear obviously having been struck into him by the German hawk. Pedro looked around quickly, and suddenly saw Jewel flying off toward the jungle, only about a mile away.

"Jewel! Jewel, chicka! Come back!" Nico yelled, obviously not realizing that she was completely oblivious to what just happened to Blu, Arthur and...Everything in general.

...

Arthur was deep in the thought, when the trollie suddenly stopped. Arthur glanced over at Blu, who jumped off. Arthur staggered up and then jumped off to the curb next to a group of buildings next to Blu.

"So, this is your friend Luiz's?" Arthur asked as he glanced over the building in front of them.

"Think so. He'll never think to look in here..." Blu said quickly as he creaked the gate doors to the building open, and slowly crept in. Arthur followed cautiously, noting how desolate the place looked.

"So, just stay here for a few hours?" Arthur asked as he inspected the whole building up and down, watching for any hiding places.

"I guess so. It's better than being out in the open and being big, blue targets." Blu reasoned. Arthur smirked at this comment, and the flew over to a turned-over oil silo and perched on top of it.

"Look, I'm in love with Petricious. Once we find Jewel, we'll clear all of this up, okay?" Arthur asked. Blu smiled over at Arthur, signaling to him to stay quiet so they'd be hidden...Unfortunetly, these plans were thrown out the window immeadetly.

"That's sweet. Love can be such a powerful and stupid thing..." A voice suddenly said from behind Arthur, which made his skin crawl. A smash to the back confirmed his fear, that indeed Krieg had found them. Krieg, instead of playing around, began to absolutely unload on Arthur. All Artie could feel was the punches of the hawk slamming into his face, blow after blow running across his face in a streak of pain. Blood actually began flying off of Arthur before Krieg was then slammed onto the floor by Blu, who smiled with a scared look at the now aggrevated Krieg.

"Mr. Weak-Bones wants to have fun..." Krieg muttered, and then tackled on top of Blu, and then began strangling him madly. Arthur rose to his feet, his body still throbbing when he noticed his relative in pain. Arthur then staggered forward, and began to run towards Krieg, who was too focused on killing Blu.

"Hey Schnitzel Bar!" Arthur yelled with anger in his soul, wanting nothing more than to end Krieg right now. Krieg turned towards Arthur with burning hatred in his orange eyes. There was no nickname the hawk hated more than 'Schnitzel Bar', a name Arthur had given to him back when they both lived with Andrew Jenkins.

"You blubbbering-" Was all Krieg could say before Arthur collided with the red-tailed hawk, and both were sent rolling into a crate nearby.

"Breaking news!" Arthur exclaimed as he landed on top of Krieg, who apparently was knocked out by the hard impact. Blu got up rather slowly from the floor, but then smiled heartily at the sight of Arthur standing on top of Krieg triumphantly.

"Well, that ends that." Blu laughed as Arthur walked over and then smiled back.

"Now, let's go settle this whole Jewel thing." Arthur said with relief. His whole body ached, and it felt rightful that they now could trade physical conflict with conversational conflict.

Unknown to them, however, a pair of orange eyes suddenly popped open, a burning look of hatred plastered into them like a branding iron on a cow's skin.

"Alright, just let me talk to-" Before Blu could finish his sentence, a sudden sound of splintering wood echoed from nearby. Blu looked over at a wooden board, and noticing a small dust cloud coming off of a nail. It was almost as if it had landed just now. All of the sudden, Arthur's face was covered with fear and he quickly grabbed Blu and started to run towards a discarded car engine, when another nails suddenly whizzed by.

"YOU TWO ARE GOING TO BE BLOODY BAGS OF MEAT!" Krieg screeched loudly, somehow having gotten his wings on a nail gun nearby. Blu and Arthur quickly dived behind the car engine and then began trying to catch their breath.

"This isn't good...Happy place...Happy place..." Blu said to himself, breathing deeply, in and out loudly. The shower of nails suddenly stopped, and Arthur slowly glanced out from behind the car engine with fear.

"Here's your top story, Arthur..."

All of the sudden, a nail smashed into the side of the engine about 2 inches from Arthur's head.

"YOU GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" Krieg yelled in an insane tone. Arthur could tell that he was becoming distraught. Desperate...Krieg was definetly craving for Arthur to be killed.

"Look...We're going to make a break for it..." Arthur whispered to Blu, who stared at him in disbelief in response.

"Are you crazy? We're going to get killed!" Blu exclaimed back. Arthur rolled his eyes and quickly covered Blu's beak.

"Look...If we can catch him by surprise, we may be able to get past without getting shot at..." Arthur said, sneaking a peak at Krieg, who was pacing back and forth, talking to himself.

"With how insane he's become, he won't even notice we're leaving..." Arthur reasoned.

"You sure we should be risking our lives like this? It's almost a suicide mission!" Blu said, trying to think of ways to talk his friend out of it. Arthur looked down on the floor thoughtfully.

"I want you to make it out. You're my top priority. Like I said a few days ago, you have a love, a reason for life. Me...I've already done enough damage...You deserve to live." Arthur sighed, preparing to fly off. Blu almost felt like crying. How could anyone be so selfless? Arthur was literally saying he'd give his own life to let Blu live.

"Alright...Tell me when you're ready..." Blu sighed, not sure whether he should allow Arthur to be risking his life for a clutz like himself...

...

Finally, Pedro and Nico had caught up with Jewel, who was audibly crying.

"Jewel! You gotta help us! Arthur's in trouble!" Pedro yelled from behind. Jewel stopped flying forward, and then turned around with an anrgy expression.

"Why should I help that idiot? All he's done is make me and Blu's life worse! Why should I help a bird who only cares about himself?" Jewel yelled, obviously distraught and angry at Arthur.

"...Amiga, he cares about you two being together. I heard him talkin' to Blu a while back..." Nico responded softly, not knowing if it would have an effect on anything.

"He wants nothing but perfect stuff for you and Blu. He hasn't lied to us yet...And we should help him, considering he cares enough that he's helping Blu right now..." Pedro added. Jewel suddenly became concerned when Blu was mentioned.

"Wait, what's happening to Blu?" Jewel asked concerningly.

"Some hawk swooped in and blew the Branch up!" Nico cried, still trying to rid the memory of the club blowing apart.

"Yeah...And that punk also started hurtin' Artie and Blu...If Artie didn't care, Blu would be gone by now..." Pedro continued. Jewel hesitated for a moment, her mind scattered in thoughts about this strange blue Macaw they'd only met last week. Could she actually trust the same bird that intruded on their nest and had kissed her, accident or not?

"...Jewel...You can trust him..." Nico whimpered. Jewel finally gave in, and then donned on a determined look.

"...Let's go get this hawk." Jewel stated.

...

Arthur glanced over at Blu with a concerned look. It was only his mission to keep Blu safe. If he was hit...Well, an end of a chapter would turn to the end of a story, Arthur thought to himself.

"Alright...Let's go in 5 seconds..." Arthur whispered, beginning to count down the seconds on his wing.

_5_

Blu began to feel himself sweating. It was almost a leap of faith they were about to take. A risk of life and death, bigger than any dicy roll a Brazilian high roller had ever taken...

_4_

Arthur's throat tightened. Thoughts of his life began to flashing through his mind. Meaning seemed to be at no value...Only a reminder of the situation about to occur being a giant risk...

_3_

Both Arthur and Blu looked at each other, exchanging last smiles before getting ready to fly...It was the last chance they knew they'd have before they would risk their lives against a mad hawk and a nail gun.

_2_

Arthur almost began to cry...What would happen if he died? This life...No reason for it...Love seeming to even avoid him at every turn...Even lovely Petricious...

_1_

Blu glanced at the crying Arthur, and then wrapped his wing around Artie's in a brotherly manner.

"All I wann say is...Thanks for caring so much about me, Jewel, my friends...Everything..." Blu said with a smile.

"...Hey...A blue macaw has to stick with his kind..." Arthur said with a smile back. Suddenly, Arthur and Blu sprang out, and quickly made a giant flap towards the door ahead.

"BONZAI!" Krieg hollered as he began firing the nail gun, every shot slamming off walls and wood.

"Almost there, Blu boy! We're ganna make it..." This was all Arthur could manage to say before Blu turned around to see a horrid sight. All of the sudden...A nail made its mark...

Krieg had hit Arthur with a nail, directly in the gut, and Arthur suddenly screamed in agony, the pain finally adding up. While still screaming, Arthur lost his altitude, and then smashed into a pile of paint cans, suddenly disappearing from sight. Blu could only manage a shocked expression and one tear before he suddenly found himself outside the garage, his mind racing with despair, horror and most importantly...Sadness. He had left his friend inside...And now...Was likely...

Blu couldn't manage to even finish his thought...He had to go back in to get his friend..._His family member..._

...

A/N:

DUN DUN DUN...Suspense, eh?

I know...It's awful you need to wait until next chapter...But I have something fun for you readers...

On my profile, I recently made a Poll...Go to my profile page, and you'll find the poll. Read the details, and you'll see that you indeed contribute to this story more than you think...

Anyways...**READ, ENJOY, REVIEW!**


	8. Life's Story

I see that almost nobody responded to the poll...I am sad.

NAH, I'm still having a fun time! I just intended to make this story more immersive. I suppose it was a false effort. Still, I honestly only had one ending penned the whole time, and it happened to the one that won the poll...So be glad it's the least wait, haha.

I'm going to be honest, the feedback I've received is great. You Rio fans are the best I've seen, and I hope Rio's fanbase continues to explode in popularity.

So...Without any more wait, LET'S PICK UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF...

...

Chapter 8

Life's Story

Blu peaked his head through the small gate going into Luiz's garage. Blu could instantly see Krieg, who was slowly heading toward the huge pile of paint cans that the now-heavily wounded Arthur was buried under. Krieg looked incredibly smug, both his eyes and mouth showing it.

"What did I tell you all those years ago? You're a fool, Arthur! You've tried to be hip, and be the good guy. Hasn't it ever occured to you that nice guys finish last? All your life, you've been a depressed sack of feathers, skin and bones. You might as well have died sooner, you loser!" Krieg taunted, still making his way towards the paint cans. Krieg suddenly turned his attention to the doorway, to which Blu drew his head away from the opened door, his heart pounding. With what he just did to Arthur, Blu was likely next if Krieg spotted him.

"I'm sure nobody even cares that you're dead. Your friend Blu left you here to die...All of your friends left you..." Krieg laughed as he reached the cans, and was slowly pushing the cans away, wanting to see the dead body of the once-proud Spix Macaw. Blu couldn't believe how sadistic this hawk really was. Nigel was an awful bird, but Krieg was a cold-blooded killer. It almost seemed like an art for him. Krieg kicked a few more cans over, and he finally found Arthur, who was lying motionlessly in a pool of paint and blood. Krieg smiled heartily at the sight, and then noted the nail embedded in his wing. Krieg slowly reached his claw to clutch it, and if Blu hadn't thought of him as a sadistic bird before, he'd think it now. Krieg suddenly started to twist the nail inside of Arthur, attempting to put fatal damage to the blue macaw.

All Blu could do was watch his friend...His species...Being ripped apart in front of him. Krieg absolutely hated Arthur, and now it showed. Krieg, after a full minute of twisting and rolling the nail around in the macaw's wing, pulled the extremely bloody nail out and dropped it down next to Arthur's now blood-bathed claws.

"I can finally say I've killed you. Hopefully you won't open your damn trap ever again..." Krieg said with almost anger in his voice. Krieg started to turn around, when he heard a gasp. Almost like someone taking in breath after coming out of water.

"...Hey Schnitzel Bar..." A voice said from behind him. Blu's hopes suddenly rose, his face bearing a small smile, knowing exactly who sported that fast-talking voice. It was almost a slow croak, but it was enough to prove what was going on.

"...How in the Holy Land are you still alive?..." Krieg muttered to himself, now sounding extremely angry as he turned around to face Arthur, his eyes suddenly creaked open slightly enough to be able to see his iris.

"You know how you talk about food going right through you with your weak stomach?" Arthur croaked out, obviously barely able to talk without wincing in pain. Krieg slipped out his talons, ready to strike the blue macaw down once and for all, when a smift move of claws suddenly caught him off guard. Arthur suddenly thrusted his claw forward, and then suddenly, Krieg saw a flash of white. Krieg suddenly felt nothing, as if something just jumped into him...And something did.

"_Bon appetit, teufel_." Arthur smirked, holding the same bloody nail that struck him before, except this nail was now embedded in the devilish hawk's chest.

Arthur had swiftly grabbed the nail, and quickly jabbed the nail right into Krieg's chest, and apparently hit the hawk's heart in the process. Krieg smiled down at Arthur, as if he was impressed, and suddenly started laughing and then started to speak in a gravely voice, with white foam slowly streaming from his mouth.

"Nice job Arthur...You finally stopped being the coward you are...Only took you 18 years..." Krieg laughed as he closed his eyes slowly and for the last time. Krieg then gave a last, gasping breath of air, and he finally collapsed, falling through the nail Arthur held and fell to the ground, his body now lifeless, bloodied and dead.

"And that Blu...Is the end of that..." Arthur laughed weakly over to the doorway, knowing that Blu was watching the whole time. Blu quickly dashed in with now a concerned look and ran up to Artie, who was still lying on the floor, the pain too much for him to be able to celebrate. Arthur was obviously in terrible shape. Not only was the original from Jewel still prominent, but now his wing was completely torn apart thanks to the nail. The impact with the twenty-odd paint cans didn't help, as Arthur's face and beak were also wrecked as well.

"Artie, we gotta get you to the sanctuary! Linda and Tulio will be able to fix you up, and..." Blu started, when he noticed Arthur started chuckling and shaking his head slowly.

"Blu...There's no way I'm ganna live through this." Arthur muttered with a surprisingly good tone about it. Blu was taken aback by this statement. Arthur was...Giving up?

"What are you talking about? I just need to get the guys and we can get you out here!" Blu responded, trying to change his friend's mind. Arthur stopped for a moment, obviously deep in thought.

"Blu...There's an old saying that Mr. Jenkins always said...'Life is a story', he'd say. Honestly, I never understood that phrase until now. I now realize what he meant...Life is a novel, and that novel's plot is all about you. You're the author of that novel, and you have control over that story in every way. Every big thing in your life amounts to just another chapter...And Blu...I think this is my final chapter of my story." Arthur spoke slowly, pausing to ignore the pain that was plaguing him. Blu listened in disbelief. Arthur was a wonderful bird, and didn't deserve the cards he was being dealt at the moment. Why'd this have to happen to him, Blu thought to himself.

"No Artie...Please don't say that. You're going to make it, I know it." Blu reasoned, starting to feel unsure about his own statement now. It was clear that Arthur didn't think so, however.

"Blu...I know you think so, and that's because you're young. That's the beauty of life...When the old, shribbled up birds leave, the younger, brighter ones come in. You and Jewel have a life ahead of you, and you can't live on this one chapter of your life that contains myself in it. Chapters are meant to be read, then passed to the next one." Arthur explained. Blu was about to speak up again, when the front door to the garage suddenly creaked open, and Pedro and Nico's heads snuck inside.

"Guys, we found 'em!" Pedro called back to outside. It was obvious that more birds had come with them. However, they weren't aware of what was occuring at the moment.

"Blu! Artie! You guys...Okay?" Nico asked, his excited tone dying off when he noticed Arthur was on the ground in a puddle of blood and Blu had a concerned, almost tearful expression. While Rafael and Jewel came in, Pedro and Nico quickly ran over to Arthur, realizing he was extremely hurt.

"Dude, what happened? We gotta get you outta here, asap!" Pedro urged as he attempted to drag Arthur across the floor, which failed after one attempt.

"He doesn't want to go..." Blu stated flatly. Pedro and Nico both looked at each other with shocked expressions.

"Dude, you can't live that way! You're ganna die!" Nico said concerningly. The whole situation was spiraling out of control. Rafael and Jewel finally made it over, and both gasped in horror at the sight of Arthur.

"Holy cow, what happened to you amigo?" Rafael asked with an almost frightened tone. Arthur laughed heartily.

"Me and the Schnitzel got in a little scuffle...Let's say that we're both going to be down and out in a bit..." Arthur stated. Rafael didn't quite understand this comment, and Blu then whispered to both Raf and Jewel what he was both told, to which they both responded with their eyes widening and a small gasp.

"Artie...You can't die...You have so much to live for, man." Rafael assured. Arthur looked at his destroyed wing, and then winced.

"You know...I'd rather die now with no more pain to live with. After all...I'll likely never fly again, and what's the use of living the life of a bird when you can't fly and you have a bird that's mad at you..." Arthur whispered sadly, glancing at Jewel with an ashamed look. Jewel felt equally as bad. She was almost as bad as Krieg, she caused pain to him that may kill him right now...

"Arthur...If it helps...I forgive you about that whole thing at the Branch..." Jewel said, suddenly feeling emotional about the whole thing. Arthur smiled widely, his face not even enough to express his relief in his soul.

"...Blu...I need to ask you to do something for me..." Arthur muttered, the smile still plastered on his face. Blu had a feeling this would be a tear-jerking question.

"Tell Petricious...That I love her dearly..." Arthur croaked, his voice losing less strength at every word. Everyone began to stare at Blu, waiting for a response. Blu was close to tears now. His best friend was about to die and THIS was his final words? Blu started to sniffel, trying to hold back the tears.

"N...No, you can tell her..." Blu stuttered back. Everyone noticed that Arthur stopped talking. Arthur suddenly raised is head and opened his silver eyes for the last time.

"...Guys...Thank you for all the loving and friendship you've given me in my final chapter of my life...It truly means alot..." Arthur said softly. Arthur's eyes suddenly closed...And his mind went black...

...

_"...Hello?"_

_"This is strange...I don't feel dead...And where's the pearly gates?"_

_"Arthur..."_

_"Wha? Who are you? Are you that 'Spirit in the Sky' they talked about in the 1980s?"_

_"No...Wishful thinking, though. You must realize that you do truly have something worth living for in your life..."_

_"What would that be? I'm out of the flying business, and all I have left is..."_

_"...Tell me what you have left..."_

_"...My friends."_

_"And do they accept you?"_

_"...I...I..."_

_"Judging from what's happened, I believe they do...Do you realize what that means?"_

_"...I do have something worth living for...But now it's gone...All of it...I was blinded by my own arrogance...I truly deserve this, don't I?__"_

_"...Why do I suddenly feel this is quite cliche?"_

_"It's because this happens in every story. Honestly, we should stop jumping the shark."_

_"Agreed."_

...

"...Dude, this is so bad." Bobby muttered as he walked towards the bird sanctuary.

"Dude, it's okay...We couldn't do anything about it." Wally responded, his voice filled with sadness.

"But we did, man...We could've gone after and helped...But I was too busy sitting on the ground...I hate Krieg so much..." Bobby sighed, his mind racing with horrible thoughts of seeing Arthur...In his condition.

"Man...Let's just do what he'd want us to do..." Wally responded, trying to supress the thoughts of Arthur, but wanting to look on the bright side.

"What's that?" Bobby asked as he paced around, deep in thought.

"We gotta go on with our lives...He'd want us to if he was able to tell us..."

"...Fine...I just wish..."

"I know, man...but we gotta. Hey, I heard all the birds start singin' around this time...You wanna get in on that?"

"...Artie would sing if he was here..."

"Yeah...But let's be the best we can be. We gotta prove that we're true birds. Let's sing our hearts out, man..."

...

It was silent...Quiet as anything. Even a mouse couldn't make a sound to break the quiet. A small breeze was travelling through the window, and the sun's rays could be felt. It's orange, blazing color looked almost like an oil pastel made from one of the finest men of the Renaissance. The quiet suddenly broke, thanks to a smal chirping. It sounded almost like a cardinal, making its noise heard. The chirping suddenly became louder, the chirping starting to rise in tempo. The whole atmosphere suddenly awoke, and everything became blending it. A huge group of birds joined in, and all of the sudden, his eyes finally cracked open, the light of the beautiful sun shining into Arthur's eyes, blinding him momentarily.

"..Am...Am I alive?" Arthur asked himself, slowing rising, the music still ringing clear into his ears. Arthur felt the top of his head with his wing, which still ached, but it didn't matter to him. All that mattered was...Was that...

"I'M ALIVE! HA HA! IT'S A MIRACLE!" Arthur cheered, starting to dance around on the small table he was standing on as the music from the wild continued to play.

Arthur was ALIVE! It was all that mattered to him. Even with the pain that was plaguing him in his left wing didn't stop his dancing. It was to joyous to end the celebration. He needed to find his friends! It was too good to be true!...And a wonderful way to begin a second chance was the music he always loved! What a wonderful day to live, Arthur thought joyously.

Meanwhile, the music of the birds began to culminate, until finally, the bird's began their wonderful tradition of singing, Arthur's favorite part of Rio...

_All the birds of a feather,_

_do what we love most of all!_

_We are the best at rythm and laughter_

_that's why we love Carnaval!_

Arthur quickly jumped out of the window, his tail feather shaking wildly. The music couldn't have been more beautiful to him.

_All so clear we can sing to!_

_Some adventures reborn!_

_Dance to the music, _

_Passion and knowledge,_

_show us the best you can do!_

Arthur watched the millions of birds singing, with both glee and sadness. While it was a wonderful feeling to finally hear singing and be able to take it all in again...He couldn't join in on the fun of flying...It didn't limit him to dancing, though!

_Everyone here is on fire!_

_Get up and get hoorah!_

_Dancing with strangers,_

_don't mess with danger._

_Magic could happen for Rio!_

_In Rio!_

_All by itself! _

_You're dancing and knowing you,_

_can't find it anywhere else!_

While Arthur was gladly dancing and joining in on the fun and excitement, two familiar voices called from behind him.

"Artie!"

Arthur turned around quickly, still grooving himself apart, to see his best buds Bobby and Wally, both with ecstatic smiles on their faces.

"Artie, you're alive!" Bobby said, almost ready to cry as he embraced his blue Macaw friend, who laughed at his buddy's emotional display. Wally simply smiled at Arthur, and then hugged him tightly, obviously happy to see him as well.

"You gotta join in on this, Artie boy!" Bobby exclaimed, dancing along with the increasing rythm of it all. Wally's expression then turned to a straight, concerned look. Wally nudged the enthusiastic Bobby, and then motioned to Arthur's bandaged wing, to which Arthur frowned shamefully.

"Aww shucks, guys! I'll still have the time of my life! After all..." Arthur said, shaking off the sadness in the facts as he began to start running and dancing around like mad. Suddenly, Arthur began to burst back into his singing voice, wide and clear to everyone.

_It's real, in Rio!_

_Know something else,_

_you can feel it happen!_

_You can feel it all by yourself!_

Wally and Bobby both exchanged delighted looks, both knowing that their friend was back.

"Well, I see you're feeling better in the vocal chords, boy!" Wally laughed as Arthur listened gleefully to all the music going on around him.

"How's about you see how we do it, Artie?" Bobby said as he flew up into the trees along with the rest of the birds, as wel as Wally, the two birds began to carry along the song.

_All the birds of a feather, _

_do what we love most of all!_

_Moon and the stars, strumming guitars_

_That's why we love Carnaval!_

Before Arthur could even climb to the top of the tree to his friends, the enthralling melody just continued, and suddenly more of Artie's friends joined in. This time it was Jewel who had joined into the music.

_Loving our life in the jungle,_

_everything's wild and free!_

Arthur was about to join in, when he was interupted by Blu, who had only just noticed him, and just gave him a smile. It certaintly was a welcome to see his friends again...

_Never alone, 'cause this is our home!_

_Magic can happen fr real, in Rio!_

_All by itself!_

_You can't see it coming!_

_You can't find it anywhere else!_

As the music continued to rise around them, Arthur greeted Blu with a huge bear hug...Or, 'bird' hug in this case.

"It's great to see ya again, Blu!" Arthur said happily.

"It's good...to see you too, Artie." Blu said back, practically being choked by Arthur's hug.

"What are we waiting for, let's keep singing! I wana sing 'till my heart gives out!" Arthur exclaimed as he continued to climb through the trees until he reached the tree top, ready to sing his remaining life apart. He was finally thankful that he had friends, a wonderful place to live...A life worth living was what he finally had, he realized.

...

A/N:

**READ, ENJOY, REVIEW!**


	9. Author's Note

**Hello everyone!**

I'm not sure I was quite clear with Chapter 8's ending, so I'll make this clear...

This story is **NOT **over!

Chapter 8 was never even INTENDED to be the ending. I had a real ending pictured out for the next chapter.

The only reason I felt the need to make this is because...Well, everyone reviewing made it sound like it was the end, and that's DEFINETLY not the case!

Look for Chapter 10 in the next few days. I gurantee you, I'm not ending this story until there's a true **"THE END"** included!

I'm sorry if you thought Chapter 8 was the ending. I originally intended Chapter 8 to end after the dream sequence Arthur had, then Chapter 9 would pick up with the ending scene of 8. I decided against this, however, and instead squeezed the start of Chapter 9 (Or...10, now) into the end, because it'd actually be simpler to start off 10 with a time transition from 8's end to later. Would make more sense in my opinion. In suppose I should've made it clearer that it wasn't the end...But what the hell, ya know?

'Till next chapter, this is Ted Wakeman, **THE **Number One Rio fanboy!


	10. Tellin' the World

I can't stress how EXTREMELY thankful I am for the tons of support you readers have given me! This is one of those fics that have made my fan-fic writing worthwile! I've loved to write fics before, but this is definetly the most fun fic-writing has been! Thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter of 'The Big Scoop'!

By the way, I recently took the "Mary Sue Litmus Test" for all of my OCs (Arthur, Wally, Bobby and Krieg). Each one of them was BELOW a grade for a Mary Sue. Hopefully that means you liked these characters, because I believe they are a vast improvement from my original OC, Ted...Don't ask about him.

**ON TO THE FINAL CHAPTER!**

...

Chapter 10

Tellin' the World

"So, how's the wing going?"

Arthur and Wally were sitting in the treetops. The sun had hit its highest point in the sky, and the whole forest had been brought to life because of it. All the birds had awaken, and the entire city of Rio was bustling with activity, whether feathered or not.

"Well...Blu told me a bit ago that Tulio was saying I'll be out of commission for...Well, for good." Arthur sighed. Wally glanced over at a group of chicks who were happily playing as their mother and father watched them with smiles. Wally shook his head with a smile. A regular case of love right there, Wally thought to himself. Arthur looked at his wing sadly, knowing he was now no better than a dead wait to his friends. Artie now knew the awful feeling Blu must've felt before he could fly.

"You know...I'm not going to let this slow me down. I have too much live for, Wally." Arthur said with confidence flowing through his voice.

"Ain't it the truth, Artie...Ain't it the truth."

All of the sudden, Blu flew in and landed beside the two buds. Arthur exchanged a small smile, and then caught a look once again at the small chicks playin around below.

"You and Jewel are heading towards a wonderful life, you know that Blu?" Arthur said with a smile to Blu, who now noticed the group of chicks and their parents below. Blu began to watch the chicks attentively, actually becoming interested in their playing.

"Honestly, I can't wait for that to happen. If there was anyone I'd want to have a family with, it'd be with Jewel. I wouldn't want it any other way, honestly." Blu admitted. Arthur sighed longingly, knowing he'd probably never be able to feel the same 'meant to be' feeling in his life. Blu looked over at Arthur with a worried look...Well, not worried, but more sorry-looking. Blu knew it pained Arthur that not only was he the one who took the last female of their kind, but Arthur had no one to be with...Wait...

"What about Petricious? Weren't you a Cosanova with her back at The Branch?" Blu asked suddenly, lighting Arthur's face up with confidence.

"Yes! We should have a fiesta tonight!" Arthur exclaimed, suddenly suggesting things out of the blue. Wally and Blu both exchanged glances and then smiled.

"Sure man! Let's go tell everyone!" Wally laughed, jumping down and swooping off to tell everyone. However, Blu stayed, taking advantage of the 2 of them being alone.

"Look...Remember how you stuck up for me back at the garage?" Blu asked. Arthur looked over at his friend with a smile. The wing was most likely a reminder of it...

"Well...I'm sticking up for you. A guy who'd take a nail for me deserves a happy ending that I got. Let's get out there and have a fun time." Blu suggested with a brotherly tone and smile. Arthur nodded his head slowly with a corresponding smile.

"Blu buddy, I like the sound of that..."

...

"So, you come here often?"

Bobby was once again making attempts at hitting on lady birds during the huge fiesta being held.

"I live here, moron." The lady bird responded. Bobby smiled knowingly, realizing he was trying the wrong tactics. All of the sudden, Bobby grabbed the lady pigeon he was talking to and then kissed her dramatically, suddenly bringing all attention to the two. The pigeon looked at Bobby strangely, and then slapped him in the face, knocking him to the ground with a dazed smile.

"Man, I said 'confidence', not 'insanity'!" Pedro yelled from 10 feet away. As it turned out, all of Bobby's friends had watched the strange pigeon fail at making it with the lady pigeon.

"That reminds me of when I first met Jewel." Blu laughed, remembering how he in fact made the same mistake and tried kiss-and-makeup first thing with Jewel.

"Yeah, you tried kissing me first thing. Was a good try, Romeo." Jewel remarked lovingly to Blu, who chuckled at the remark.

"Hey Pedro, you think it's about time we kick this party up a notch? Pretty soon Bobby's ganna be pooped. We gotta get this place jumpin'!" Arthur exclaimed, to which both Pedro and Nico nodded in agreement.

"Next level, Pedro!" Nico responded. This obviously set Pedro to a mindset that they NEEDED to start partying ASAP.

"Here's an idea. Give him a bit of mojo, and he'll be off! I'll be back..." Arthur smirked, slowly walking over to the still-downed Bobby.

"Hey Bobby, you wanna sing your favorite tune? Pedro and Nico are getting excited. You gotta play the song all the boys love back home!" Arthur whispered to Bobby. Bobby slowly rose up and then laughed.

"Oh yeah! Let's go! Let's hope Brazilians know Lionel Richie!" Bobby exclaimed. Bobby flew over to Pedro and Nico excitedly, obviously ancy to start his performance. Arthur walked back with an accomplished look on his face.

"What'd he say?" Rafael asked. Arthur laughed softly.

"I told him he should sing his favorite song. Hey Wally, you up to helping the guy out?" Arthur asked. Wally saluted with a smile, then ran off towards Bobby.

"What song is Bobby's favorite, exactly?" Blu asked curiously as he walked over along with Jewel.

"A good man named Lionel Richie has been his favorite since I met him. If I know him, he'll pull it off." Arthur chuckled. Blu once again got deja vu from the mention of Lionel Richie. More memories of his first meeting with Jewel. Heck, even Jewel knew it.

"Don't start flirting with me on that again. That wasn't exactly normal back then, and it still won't be." Jewel said to Blu.

"We know Lionel Richie? Makes it all that more fun!" Arthur exclaimed. The voice of Pedro and Nico could be heard from in front of the whole crowd.

"Alright everyone! Who here remembers Wally and Bobby?" Pedro asked. Everyone cheered in response, to which both Wally and Bobby bowed clumsily. It was obvious Wally's performance last night was still fresh in everyone's mind.

"Now, these guys are from waaay up North! Who wants to hear some of that funky New York music?" Pedro exclaimed. A huge cheer was the response, which gave the que for Wally and Bobby to decend into their performance, aided by Pedro and Nico music talent as well. Wally summed up his voice, and then opened wide, finally letting out the song's first line. As luck would have it, the song of choice was a bit TOO MUCH nostalgia for Blu...

_Say you, say me; say it for always..._

_That's the way it should be._

_Say you, say me; say it together._

_Naturally!_

Blu exchanged an embarassed look to Jewel, who just smiled back and gave him a peck on his cheek. Arthur chuckled lightly at the situation. Nostalgia is the best feeling in the world, Arthur though to himself. Bobby suddenly jumped besides Wally, and then picked up where he left off.

_As we go down life's lonesome highway, _

_seems the hardest thing to do is find a friend or two._

_A helping hand, someone who understands._

_That when you feel you've lost your way,_

_you've got someone there to say "I'll show you."_

Arthur chuckled at the two friends battling for singing spots on the front stage. They were obviously having fun with the song. Arthur glanced over, and could see both Blu and Jewel next to each other, exchanging loving glances. Arthur just sat back and watched what Bobby and Wally could pull off, as both of them joined together and began singing in a synchronized fashion.

_Say you, say me!_

_Sing it together..._

_Naturally!_

Both Bobby and Wally struck poses as if they were stars, and everyone cheered, a mass of wings and beaks flooding the area. Arthur looked over at the two blue love birds next to him, and then walked closer.

"I hate to break up this...Touching moment, but I'm afraid you owe me a little something." Arthur said with a smile to Blu, who reacted with a confused expression.

"Oh right...What do you have in mind?" Blu asked with a smile.

"You're going to sing a song I made. If anyone should sing it with me, it's the same bird who won love and gave me the happy ending I thought I'd never have!" Arthur exclaimed, when he suddenly felt a tap of his shoulder. Arthur turned to see Rafael, who bore a large smile on his billed-mouth.

"I think your happy ending became _muey bien_, Artie boy!" Rafael exclaimed, sliding to the left to reveal Petricious, to which Arthur smiled widely.

"Well I certaintly couldn't have a happy ending without my love, could I?" Arthur said with a smile as he walked closer to Petricious.

"I couldn't end this story without a little help from my Petricious, ah?"

"Just kiss me, you goofball." Petricious said as she began to lean in. The two birds both leaned in and kissed, this time in front of a whole crowd of birds. Whistles and and cheers could be heard all around the two. Arthur came back with a content look on his face, and then turned his head around to Blu.

"Now, let's tell the world about our happiness, my blue friend." Arthur smiled and he grabbed Blu and walked up to the front stage to a huge amount of cheers.

"Settle down my friends! Let me tell you a little story about when I got here..." Arthur said, hushing the crowd quickly.

"I arrived in Rio about a week ago, thinking it'd just be a short pit stop. I jumped into a tree to build a temporary home, not thinking it'd cause anything big. Boy was I wrong, because I soon met some wonderful birds around here. Thanks to this small occurence, I was led into not only the biggest adventure of my life, but the greatest friends I've ever had. After all this, I've learned that no matter what happens in your life...Whether you're young or old...There's always another chapter left as long as someone in your life loves you...Now lemme sing you a tune that I came up with...Lemme tell you about me and my friend Blu's love lives...The reason why we live our lives every day..."

Arthur quickly handed over Blu a small notepad, which read a huge amount of lyrics, all that sounded very familar to what Arthur had talked about a few days before...

"You...Wrote down everything we talked about?" Blu asked, still reading the lyrics.

"A reason for life, Blu. A reason for life." Arthur said simply, the smile on his face ready to come right off his small head.

"You're such a weird bird, Artie..." Blu laughed. Arthur chuckled lowly, summing his voice up.

"Right back at ya, cerilian." Arthur replied. Both Arthur and Blu looked forward, and then let the words follow through.

_Every part of my heart, I'm givin' out._

_Every song on my lips, I'm singing it out._

_Any fear in my soul, I'm letting go._

_And anyone who asks, I'll let 'em know._

_She's the one, she's the one_

_I say it loud._

_She's the one, she's the one_

_I say it proud._

_Ring a bell, ring a bell for the whole crowd._

_Ring a bell, ring a bell..._

Both Petricious and Jewel could tell by know what the whole song meant, and they both looked at their love hawks lovingly. A whole mess of insanity couldn't have ended in a perfect fashion like this...But somehow it did.

Arthur summed up his voice, breaking him and Blu's duet, and began to sing himself.

_I'm telling the world, that I've found a girl._

_The one I can live for..._

_The one who deserves._

_Every part in my heart, I'm giving out._

_Every song on my lips, I'm singing out._

_Any fear in my soul, I'm letting go._

_And anyone who asks I'll let 'em know._

_She's the one, she's the one._

_I say it loud._

_She's the one, she's the one._

_I say it proud._

_Ring a bell, ring a bell for the whole crowd._

_Ring a bell, ring a bell!_

Once again, both Arthur and Blu synched again, singing together once more.

_I'm telling the world..._

_That I found the girl!_

_The one I can live for!_

_The one who deserves!_

_To give all my life!_

_A reason to fly!_

_The one I can live for,_

_a reason for life!_

_Oe oh oe oh_

_Yeah yeah_

_Oe oh oe oh_

_Yeah yeah_

_Oe oh oe oh_

_Yeah yeah_

_Every part in my heart I'm giving out_

_Every song on my lips I'm singing out_

_Any fear in my soul I'm letting go_

_An__d anyone who ask I'll let them know_

_She's the one, she's the one_

_I say it loud_

_She's the one, she's the one_

_I say it proud_

_Ring a bell, Ring a bell_

_For the whole crowd_

_Ring a bell, Ring a bell_

_I'm telling the world_

_That I've found a girl_

_The one I can live for_

_The one who deserves_

_Every part in my heart I'm giving out_

_Every song on my lips I'm singing out_

_Any fear in my soul I'm letting go_

_And anyone who ask I'll let them know_

_She's the one, she's the one_

_I say it loud_

_She's the one, she's the one_

_I say it proud_

_Ring a bell, Ring a bell_

_For the whole crowd_

_Ring a bell, Ring a bell_

_I'm telling the world_

_That I've found a girl_

_The one I can live for_

_The one who deserves_

_To give all my heart_

_A reason to fly_

_The one I can live for_

_A reason for life_

_Oe oh oe oh_

_Yeah yeah_

_Oe oh oe oh_

_Yeah yeah_

_Oe oh oe oh_

_Yeah yeah_

Both Arthur and Blu finished, and then sat silent, awaiting applause. Instead, they received a roar of applause. Everyone had gone insane for the performance. Arthur turned over to Blu and smiled in a proud fashion, and then turned to come face to face with Petricious.

"Would my lyrics lie?" Arthur asked with a smile. Petricious gave Arthur a peck on his face, who then smiled dreamily. After all of this sorrow, pain, insanity, adventure...He could finally realize that he had a reason for life. The chapters of his life sitting in Mr. Jenkins' old shed had ended, and he finally had a true happy ending...The best part was, his story was over. Not by a long shot. With all these chapters left, and a beautiful he now had, there was only one thing that he could say that was left to be said...Arthur looked all around him, glancing at all the friends he'd made, the fun he'd had, and the overall adventure of this wonderful place called Rio. Finally, Arthur let loose his final thought of it all...

"I LOVE YOU RIO!"

**THE END**

...

A/N:

AND THAT, is the end!

I gotta say one more time, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I've had the most fun ever with this fic. I was able to create a whole assortment of characters, new stories...It was just a great story that I'm incredibly proud to write. I hope you all enjoyed this story...And hey, maybe this DOESN'T need to be the last chapter of Arthur's life...If I get support, maybe I'll throw a little treat by you readers...Maybe a sequel or something...XD

As always**, READ, ENJOY, REVIEW! **


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